10 Questions with Dipo Doherty

As an artist, engineer, and entrepreneur, Dipo Doherty seeks to define a vocabulary in his work that unites his African heritage and scientific background; a socio-scientific synthesis, with the human body being at the centre-point of his practice. An indigene of Lagos, Nigeria, he earned his Bsc. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Virginia and is a self-taught artist. He is currently a master's fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he is studying Integrated Design & Management.

His artistic career began at the age of 21 in an attempt to approach his scientific inquiry of the world around him through artistic expression. Doherty has interpreted the human anatomy in his own ideology, increasing its dimensionality in abstraction in his paintings, while expanding his visual language to other forms of media that reference socio-economic issues, and scientific parallels in the highly dynamic and multi-cultural fabric of the world today. One of the foremost young artists practicing in Nigeria, he is an MIT Art Scholar and Schnitzer Prize recipient, Arthouse Foundation Fellow, Rele Young Contemporary Artist, and a finalist for the inaugural Art X Prize in 2016. He has held past solo exhibitions at the Rele Gallery, Nike Art Gallery, and the National Museum.

www.dipodoherty.com | @kingdips

ARTIST STATEMENT

“Life is an abstract experience. Our bodies, along with its senses to see, hear, taste, and smell, shape up a vocabulary of our world, and as time unrolls, we use these senses to create severe bonds with people, places, and things. Geometry, the code of the material world, goes beyond the physicality of life. To many people, a circle might represent a fruit, the sun, a plate, or the law of karma in spiritual terms. It has been my goal to exploit the limitless interpretations within the domain of geometry through its scientific, cultural, and social relationship to humanity. And use that to create an abstract visual language that resonates uniquely with every observer.

I explore my life across several snapshots through time using the human form as a vessel. The eyes are a common theme in my work and play a special role because they represent awareness, existence, and intelligence. This exercise serves as a form of self-discovery for me, pondering my future and past in my present. It is my hope that these abstract experiences of mine provoke the same feeling of self-discovery in the eyes of the viewer as well.” - Dipo Doherty

INTERVIEW

First of all, let's talk about yourself. You are an artist and an engineer at the same time. How would you describe Dipo Doherty in 3 words?

'Coherence in Duality'. That was the title of my second solo exhibition, and I still live by it every day. As an artist and engineer, I'm constantly getting exposed to new methods, processes, and ideas from the two disciplines. That constant cross-pollination of ideas is what I enjoy the most.

How do you balance your artistic life with your engineer side? Do they influence each other?

Definitely. In fact, my initial dabble in the arts was an attempt to take many engineering concepts I studied in college and apply them in the art world.

What inspired you to pursue a career in visual arts? And how did you get interested in it in the first place?

My Dad went to college in the US, so growing up in Nigeria, I lived in a household where artifacts from African and American culture melded. This two-sided experience created a passion for bringing ideas from various cultures and disciplines together. It's also why I decided to go to college in the US, which changed everything for me.
I got the chance to visit the MoMA in New York and experience the works from the abstract expressionist movement. Rothko was my introduction, and then I discovered Pollock, Fankenthaler, and Sam Gilliam. Their works struck a chord with me and motivated me to be a part of this larger artistic conversation.

In your work, we can often find references to geometry and geometrical shapes. What does geometry mean for you? And how do you use it in your work?

Geometry is a universal language. I don't think there's any discipline you'll investigate and not find some semblance of geometry in its expression of ideas. My work centers around lines. I think it's the fundamentalist in me to reduce ideas I find to their simplest form and layer on more ideas to develop a geometric collage.

What themes do you pursue? What messages are you trying to convey to the viewers?

It's less about a specific message and more of a transformative experience. It makes me so happy when my collectors tell me that their visual experience with my paintings seems to change with time, and I tell them that it's reflective of how their life experience changes who they are as they pass through time. To me, the highest expression of art transforms with time, and doesn't stake a pole in a certain period.

Sunset at Poseidon, Acrylic on canvas, 50x50 inches, 2016 © Dipo Doherty

What is your creative process like, and where do you find inspiration?

I'm such a hoarder of digital photos, and that's my favorite form of source material. IG is a powerful discovery tool and can feel like a rabbit hole experience. I enjoy clipping screenshots of machines, nature, and architecture. I'm a huge fan of the brutalist movement, so I pull a lot of my inspiration from the complex shapes and forms I find in cities.

What about your mixed media works, such as Covalence? How did you work on those pieces, and what is their story?

Covalence is a story about the gradual breakdown of the public school system in Nigeria. When I moved back to Lagos in 2013, I got the chance to volunteer at a public school district and was pretty upset at the state of it, the lack of enthusiasm and empathy from the teachers (who were probably not well paid), and thought really hard about what kind of piece I could make to capture how I felt. With Covalence, my goal was to express the complex identity of the students that inhabited this space, using an artifact that's instrumental in this educational system, and to capture the degradation as I experienced it. By burning the yellow rulers, which are pretty commonplace in Nigerian schools, I'm demonstrating the irreversibility of the damage being done, and by weaving into the latticework of rulers a collage of photographs of actual students that went through this system, I feel I'm giving them a collective consciousness.

Covalence, Burnt wooden rulers, mounted photographs on board, 10x4 feet, 2017 © Dipo Doherty

Covalence, Burnt wooden rulers, mounted photographs on board, 5x5 feet, 2017 © Dipo Doherty

What are you working on right now? Are you experimenting with anything new?

I'm always tinkering. I'm currently experimenting with laser cutting and 3D printing. It's always a dream to give volume to my work, and these techniques have been game-changing in bringing new ideas to my studio. My ethos has always been to immerse myself in various mediums, so who knows, maybe an acoustic piece might be my next hit.

How do you see the future of the art world? Over the past months, we have witnessed major changes, especially related to digital art and the digital fruition of art-related content. What is your take on those subjects?

I couldn't be more excited about digital art than I am now. I strongly believe it'll reshape how we can build a community around our work and participate in the upside of our works in the secondary market. People always marvel at how artworks sell for lofty prices on the auction block but fail to realize little to none of these proceeds ever make it to the artist. With NFTs, we can tie smart contracts to our digital sales and have our works traded virtually, with a well-kept record of ownership and royalties off the incremental value of each sale of our work.

And finally, do you have any upcoming exhibition or project you would like to share with our readers?

NFTs and sculptures are in the works, and I'm really excited about how these two projects are developing.

related interviews