The joyful figures in his distinctive paintings convey the feeling, that, when not being observed, they could spring to life. Graceful women laugh and sway in the marketplace, musicians tune up and dancers leap high in the air. “Gestures and overall attitudes, rather than detail, are of primary importance to me,” he says. “I simplify and stylize my images, enabling them to transcend mere literal representation to express the abstract qualities that appeal to me. The emotional impact that they convey is more important than a strict understanding of the forms and colors themselves.”
Now living in Boise, Idaho, with his wife, Deidra, Nnamdi was born in Nigeria and grew up in the town of Enugu, with his parents and two younger brothers. He began to draw as a young boy, but it was not a pursuit he took seriously until he was 17. With his mother’s encouragement, he decided to pursue art as a career and went on to earn a diploma in painting from the Institute of Management and Technology in Enugu. “My mom is the reason that I took up art,” he says. “She is very artistically talented. I thank God every day that I draw and sculpt. The contemplation and creation of my art fulfills an essential personal need for balance, serenity and order.”
Nnamdi (who is 6’9”) was recruited by Brigham Young University in Hawaii for their basketball team. He played college basketball for four years and studied art, graduating with a B.F.A. in sculpture and later earning his M.F.A. at BYU in Provo.
Nnamdi creates his distinctive paintings by applying oil pastels and blending them spontaneously by hand, a technique that has actually worn down the surface of his fingertips. “I like to paint round shapes because of their softness and fullness,” he comments. Most of his paintings come from his imagination: “I have to force myself to look around,” he laughs. “Even when I try to paint a landscape, it looks more like my imagination.”
“My ideal of beauty is totally different from contemporary ideals. My art is spiritual and worshipful, an embodiment of all my beliefs. My paintings deal with light as illumination — the absence of darkness — and joy, energy and revelation. If I believed in disorder, my art would not be orderly. If I did not believe in peace, my art would not be peaceful. Through my art, I transcend myself, putting into two dimensions the things that are in my mind.
“I hope that my art will always be a source for positive energy that will bless lives in times of joy as well as in times of sadness. I feel an obligation as an artist to make a meaningful contribution to humanity, and in the end, if my art serves that purpose, even in a small way, I will have succeeded. I hope that the viewer will recognize these things and also discover, regardless of his or her own background or experience, a humanity that transcends all of our differences.”
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