Press Release
ROOTS AND BRANCHES
Ogirikan Art Gallery is proud to present DUO: Roots and Branches, an exhibition bringing together the works of two compelling contemporary artists—Bali Audu and Ubong Ettebong—in a visual exploration of fathers and their children.
The father–child relationship is one of the earliest and most enduring bonds that shape human experience. It encompasses joy and tenderness, but also carries the weight of absence, silence, and memory. DUO: Roots and Branches brings together the practices of Audu Bali and Ubong Ettebong in a dialogue that reflects these dualities. Through distinct artistic vocabularies, the two artists approach fatherhood not as a singular condition but as a spectrum of presence and loss, laughter and longing, roots and branches.
Bali’s work is immediately striking for its vibrancy and texture. Working in oil with a pointillist technique, she creates surfaces alive with energy and rhythm. Her subjects—toddlers and young children—are captured in moments of intimacy with their fathers: running into an embrace, gazing upward with trust, or reaching out in play. These scenes speak to the foundational experiences of safety, belonging, and joy. Yet beneath the exuberance lies a profound attentiveness to time: the fleeting nature of childhood, the unrepeatable moment that becomes memory even as it unfolds.
In contrast, Ettebong’s canvases are quieter, their palette more restrained, their mood reflective. Working within a realist idiom, he engages the absence of the father figure, often through scenes that gesture toward memory, longing, and grief. A boy at play unaware of his father’s approaching death, or figures surrounded by silence and shadow—such images consider how paternal loss reverberates in both personal and collective consciousness. For Ettebong, the father is not only a biological presence but also an enduring imprint, whose absence continues to shape lives long after death.
Placed in conversation, Bali and Ettebong’s works enrich one another. Where Bali celebrates beginnings, Ubong Ettebong reflects on endings; where one affirms presence, the other dwells on absence. Together, they reveal a continuum: the father as both figure and memory, as joy and as loss, as root and as branch.
DUO: Roots and Branches is, ultimately, an exhibition about inheritance—not only the material inheritance of lineage but the emotional, psychological, and cultural legacies that flow between generations. Through their contrasting yet complementary practices, Bali and Ettebong invite reflection on the multiple forms in which love, loss, and remembrance are carried forward.
BALI AUDU
Bali Audu is a multidisciplinary artist born in 1990 in Bauchi State, Nigeria. She graduated from the University of Lagos with a degree in Textile Arts in 2015. Bali’s vibrant works explore the intricate relationship between humans and their environment, with a focus on women and children.
Bali’s art combines rich colors, vivid lines, and traditional henna dot patterns to create narratives of visual exploration. Her work celebrates resilience, self-discovery, and empowerment, reflecting the strength and beauty of humanity. Through workshops and exhibitions across Africa, Bali fosters cultural exchange, social impact, and shared human experiences. She is currently based in Lagos, where she continues her art journey.
UBONG ETTEBONG
A recent recipient of a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree from the University of Uyo, Ubong’s artistic endeavors manifest a profound engagement with his immediate and past environs.
Ubong Ettebong perceives art as both a gift and a conduit to establish connections with the world. Within the realm of his paintings, he systematically delves into themes of self-discovery, self-realization, freedom, equality, and inner-happiness. With a deliberate intention, he aspires for his artworks to exert emotional and psychological influence upon the audience, thereby contributing to a nuanced discourse within the realm of visual expression.