Art As A Luxurious Talent with Collins Abinoro

Abinoro Collins is the owner of an art studio based in the bustling city of Lagos. He is an incomparable artist who graduated with distinctions from the Auchi school of Art in 2012. He trail blazes with his sculptures in stainless steel cutlery, fiberglass, and bronze. Inspired by the fragments of the society, he captures moments that tell tails, patterns, and issues of life with his magnificent birds. Birds have constantly been a subject of his expression with cutleries because it is a symbol of creative freedom in his art practice. With it, he unravels in a tangible form, mysteries, love and passion, natural phenomenon and societal issues. He has exhibited in Nigeria, the UAE (United Arab Emirates) and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Below is a summary of the Interview Art As A Luxurious Talent with Collins Abinoro

As he recalled his childhood days, he said that as little as when he was a kid in school he had already been able to picture what he wanted to be. This early realization he said had made it possible for him to make calculated decisions ever since leading to his present career path as an Artist. He said his love for art stemmed from a deep-seated feeling, something he could barely explain, something that gave him joy.

He went on to say that Art was the only thing that gave him confidence and allowed him to express himself. Discussing how his feature on BBC came about, he recalled at the time posting one of his art pieces on Twitter and receiving a huge response from the online community. He said that following the huge reaction from the online community, Twitter he got a call soon after from a Journalist at BBC asking that his story be featured on their platform.

From where he drew inspiration, he said that he was able to find inspiration for art pieces from his memories, his immediate environment as well as his personal experiences. Speaking on some of the challenges he was faced with as an artist he spoke about the little or no access to funds being that art was very expensive. He recalled that during his service year he had saved up during the one-year period so as to start-up his art studio.

He saved up to enable him to start an art studio in Lagos away from his residence at Delta. After the one-year service, during the period of finding his footing, he stayed in Lagos with friends and artists until he was able to raise enough money to start his own art studio. He revealed that in sourcing his working tools which were cutleries he used up to 2000 spoons to create an art piece and had used 4,600 spoons on a single art piece at one time.

While expressing optimism, he said that he hoped to transcend time and living fragments through his art pieces for generations to come. He said that art was a very lucrative career. Speaking for himself he said that since leaving school, he was yet to do a 9 to 5 job and even now married he still continued to create art full time earning monthly in seven figures.

On how art pieces were able to appreciate over time he said that it depended on the artist’s growth over time, the buildup of collectors’ interest in an artist’s art piece amongst others. In his advice to up and coming visual artists, he urged them to find themselves, stick to their career choices and be ready to make sacrifices with no regrets of failing.