24/08/2026
USEKWU
Usékwù means “kitchen” in Igbo.
This piece began with an idea from my collector: to recreate his grandmother’s kitchen, a place that held memories of where he came from.
I had the privilege of bringing that memory to life through my art, but somewhere along the process, I fell in love with the story behind it.
Because Usékwù is more than a kitchen.
It is a story of little beginnings.
Of family.
Of memories.
Of a generation that started somewhere, with what they had, and grew into something greater.
Sometimes, we become so focused on where we are going that we forget to honour where we began.
And perhaps that is what makes Usékwù so special to me.
It reminds us that the places that look ordinary today may one day become the very stories our children and grandchildren hold onto.
For those of us with great dreams and greater visions, Usékwù is a gentle reminder:
Never despise the beginning.
The kitchen may have been small, but the dreams born from it were not.
Where we are today is only the beginning of a better tomorrow.
And this is the story I was honoured to bring to life.
-
OLiKaEze
