Traces of ecstasy I, 2020 Acrylic, pastel, collage and photo transfer on wood 30 x 40”
Oluseye re-imagines himself as a gender and sexually ambiguous orisha (deity), named Oluwatoberu, the "god that fears nothing.” Inspired by the work of Rotimi Fani-Kayode, this work depicts a reconciliation of his intersecting identities – his blackness, his Yoruba heritage, his queerness, his masculinity, and his femininity. All these facets are vital and symbiotic energies of his Ori: the seat of his spirit, and the Yoruba metaphysical concept that determines his personality and destiny. There are no binary distinctions here, the physical and the spiritual are one. The orifice in my lower end is a third eye and another portal to “gain access to the soul.” To quote Bastille, “the sexual is but one route into the realm of the sacred.”