Nigerian born artist, Buchi Upjohn Aghaji dips his brush into vastly different hues when creating his works. He expresses his art through a variety of media including oil, watercolor and acrylic on cold-pressed paper, canvas, burlap, wood and pottery. The result is a refreshing change from the contemporary trend in Afro-centric painting. Aghaji says he was always interested in painting, his studies at the university steered him into the advertising field where he worked for a year in Nigeria. It wasn’t until he moved to England that he realized he could pursue his painting full time.
Always open to travel and new experiences, Aghaji decided to move to the United States. He spent three years in New York where he says at first his work was met with some resistance due to its break from tradition. He has held fast to the idea that "An appreciation and enjoyment of a thing of beauty is a freeing experience in itself". One must have that freedom to appreciate and interpret the beauty of art. This explains why his work takes a semi-abstract quality yet possessing a vibrance that makes you stop and take notice of the rhythm of the painting.
He also uses the traditional "Uli" motifs found in his tribe, the Igbos of Nigeria that displays a unique form of expression. Uli is the art of body decorations, consisting of lines and patterns that convey such admirable qualities as the strength, fertility, humility and compassion of the individuals they adorn. He states that using uli motifs enables him to remind everyone that these inner qualities are what we must seek to cultivate. This combining of the best of the "old" and the "new" come together make his work a unique and exhilarating experience.
Upjohn’s work has received much recognition and acclaim in Nigeria and other parts of the world. The president of Nigeria and numerous private collectors in England, Germany, America and Africa have collected his work.
