Fields of Memory is part of my Meta Abfillage series, where I revisit earlier paintings and layer them with collage to explore the dialogue between time, memory, and survival. Beneath the cassava motifs lies an image from my own past ,a group of five boys, myself among them, playing football. The scene recalls the freedom, joy, and unspoken dreams of youth; a time when play held the promise of the future.
In returning to this work years later, I overlaid it with painted cassava leaves and fragments of newspaper ,visual metaphors for endurance and collective sustenance. Cassava, a recurring symbol in my practice, represents the quiet perseverance that shapes life in Nigeria. Here, it becomes a new body layered over the old one, transforming memory into reflection.
Through these layers, Fields of Memory bridges aspiration and survival. It speaks to how childhood moments, once light and fleeting, become covered by the weight of time ,yet continue to nourish who we are.
