Anya-Anwu (Enlightenment) by Data Oruwari

Anya-Anwu (Enlightenment) by Data Oruwari, 2019, ink, gouache and 24k gold leaf on archival paper, 30 x 20 inches.

As spiritual beings having a human experience, we each have unique ways of receiving communication from the divine creator. This divine wisdom helps direct our journey through life. Intuition is a sacred gift that helps us tap into this divine wisdom. It can manifest as a gut feeling, a warning experienced as a tingle up the spine, a deep inner knowing, through dreams, from inner voices and so on. In this piece, the wisdom of the universe is represented by a vast galaxy that funnels its way into the conscious mind of a woman. Her physical eyes closed in deep introspection to receive this wisdom, which awakens in her a different kind of sight. The type that perceives the universe as a ‘unified whole’ with an unyielding connection to its creator. In one hand she holds onto an African mask, a totem of the ancestral voices that constantly whisper to her. The hands above her chest each symbolize a deep knowing and acceptance that this sacred gift will always guide her life path. A fourth hand poised in a gesture of benediction to bless others with the wisdom she receives. The intuitive mind is a sacred gift, and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift. This piece inspires us to embrace and develop our unique intuitive gifts so that we may strengthen your personal connection to the divine.

Data Oruwari is a Nigerian illustrator and contemporary sacred artist, who creates unique iconographic representations of afro-spiritual concepts. She works primarily with pen and ink. Through meticulous line and stippling techniques, she creates imagery that illuminates the divine in us all as well as seeks to heal and reconnect humanity with spirituality from an African perspective. Her influences include Afro-mythology, Afro-cosmology, the visionary art movement, byzantine iconography, and afro-mysticism. Data affirms that our belief systems are an invisible force that shapes our identity, by enriching our understanding of who we are and why we are here. Hence through her work, she aims to decolonize and reclaim a spiritual identity that’s been damaged from centuries-long ‘demonization’ of afro-indigenous belief systems. She does this by telling stories of how her ancestors understood the nature of our collective existence. Through myth and symbolism, she explores afro-indigenous concepts on spirituality from her personal experiences as an African woman born into a post-colonial environment. She uses art as a way to heal deep-seated collective wounds of history, and to celebrate the vibrancy and relevance of the legacy of those that came before her.