ARTIST'S STATEMENT
As per usual, the concept I ended with was not the one I began with.
The project began in the midst of the Birth of a Nation debacle as a response to
Chapman’s constant cry of a diverse, open, and accepting campus though in truth their
actions consistently say the opposite. However the controversy cleared up very quickly,
the poster was taken down, and as a person who has a hard time holding on to negative
emotion and animosity, I couldn’t continue. I struggled for a bit to find a new concept, and
then a few days later Chapman invited Ben Shapiro to come speak to the graduating business seniors.
The animosity was back, but existed in a slightly different realm than it did before. Rather than
feeling attacked and lied to, I simply felt not listened to. There was so much effort expended by
the black students and allies to make such a small change happen and here we were five days later.
Back in the same place. While I thought about that I realized that’s often the case, people of color
(as well as women, LGBTQ people, and more) are almost never asking for too much (generally
baseline human rights or respect), but the effort expended and the pushback from the opposition
is always massive, to the point that it’s a little comical. Reacting to this, I wanted to create a world
that was too much. I wanted to create a hypothetical universe that moves past what I truly believe
in and provides a sample for what could be, and provides perspective to place our real life asks
against.
The project began in the midst of the Birth of a Nation debacle as a response to
Chapman’s constant cry of a diverse, open, and accepting campus though in truth their
actions consistently say the opposite. However the controversy cleared up very quickly,
the poster was taken down, and as a person who has a hard time holding on to negative
emotion and animosity, I couldn’t continue. I struggled for a bit to find a new concept, and
then a few days later Chapman invited Ben Shapiro to come speak to the graduating business seniors.
The animosity was back, but existed in a slightly different realm than it did before. Rather than
feeling attacked and lied to, I simply felt not listened to. There was so much effort expended by
the black students and allies to make such a small change happen and here we were five days later.
Back in the same place. While I thought about that I realized that’s often the case, people of color
(as well as women, LGBTQ people, and more) are almost never asking for too much (generally
baseline human rights or respect), but the effort expended and the pushback from the opposition
is always massive, to the point that it’s a little comical. Reacting to this, I wanted to create a world
that was too much. I wanted to create a hypothetical universe that moves past what I truly believe
in and provides a sample for what could be, and provides perspective to place our real life asks
against.
I thought a fun way to present this information that would also allow me to connect the pieces
would be a brochure explaining this new world of mine. Though I thought it’d be a fun way to
deliver information I still wanted to utilize markmaking, so I turned my handwriting into a
downloadable font and typed the text in my own handwriting. The watercolor pieces I wanted to
feel somewhat disconnected without being contextualized by the brochure and the text,
as I wanted them to really be illustrations for the pamphlet, which serves as the final piece in the series.
I think the first four pieces work together to provide a vague idea of a story, and the pamphlet is the
clincher.
would be a brochure explaining this new world of mine. Though I thought it’d be a fun way to
deliver information I still wanted to utilize markmaking, so I turned my handwriting into a
downloadable font and typed the text in my own handwriting. The watercolor pieces I wanted to
feel somewhat disconnected without being contextualized by the brochure and the text,
as I wanted them to really be illustrations for the pamphlet, which serves as the final piece in the series.
I think the first four pieces work together to provide a vague idea of a story, and the pamphlet is the
clincher.
Though I think humor plays a part in the text, I did want portions of the pieces to be abrasive
because this is a world where we’re done asking and we’ve decided to take instead. More than
that though, I wanted there to be little, aggressive sort of wake up calls whose message is simply,
“this is what being unfair, and nonsensical looks like”. Whatever we’re fighting for currently, whether
it’s asking to end hate speech on campus, or peacefully protesting police brutality, those are
reasonable requests approached civilly.
because this is a world where we’re done asking and we’ve decided to take instead. More than
that though, I wanted there to be little, aggressive sort of wake up calls whose message is simply,
“this is what being unfair, and nonsensical looks like”. Whatever we’re fighting for currently, whether
it’s asking to end hate speech on campus, or peacefully protesting police brutality, those are
reasonable requests approached civilly.
BIO
Oba Olaniyi grew up in Fairfield, Iowa with soybeans, goats, and plenty of white people. Too many probably. That statement in mind, it should be noted that Oba himself is white (in part). Having experienced life at the crossroads of several different racial identities (black, hispanic, and white), he often uses his position and unique experiences to inspire his work, whether it’s his writing or his visual art. He’s drawn since he was young, but over his childhood and into adolescence, comics became an increasingly significant influence on his style. His love of comics led to the fact that now, he deals primarily in watercolor and ink. That being said, he’s always more than happy to make do with whatever’s on hand. Currently, Oba studies screenwriting at Chapman University and does stand-up on the side, hoping to work writing for TV and film some day.
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