Nigerian Artist Creates Realistic Oil Portraits Incorporating Colorful Local Fabrics

Clement Mmaduako Nwafor - Nigerian Artist

Nigerian artist Clement Mmaduako Nwafor works with oil paints and collage to create stunning, large-scale paintings on canvas. His love of art started as a child, when he would spend hours drawing with crayons and colored pencils. This led the African artist to seek out an apprenticeship, and he spent two years working under two master sculptors. Transitioning to painting once he moved to the Nigerian capital of Abuja in 2011, his work mainly focuses on portraiture.

Shockingly, given his level of skill, it only took him six months from the time he began painting with oils to begin selling his work. He was encouraged to pick up a brush at the Abuja Arts and Crafts Village, where local painters and sculptors work and sell their art, primarily to tourists. It was there that he met well-known Nigerian painter Oswald Uruakpa, who encouraged him to begin painting.

Now, he focuses on canvases painted in oil and incorporating collage—often using pieces of fabric, resulting in stunning mixed media artwork. Colorful and intricate gele, Nigerian headwraps, feature heavily in his work—Nwafor expertly gives life and movement to the folds of fabric. In some canvases, he incorporates a proverb written on paper (“Whatever you feed yourself with is what you become” or “If you hide sickness, sickness will hide you in the grave”) dangling from the sitter's ear like an earring.

Soft and colorful, Nwafor's art almost appears as if it were carefully illustrated in colored pencils or pastels, showing his mastery at manipulating oil paint. Working from photographs, he's able to create a soulful, lifelike rendering of his subjects. It's easy to see why his work has already been exhibited internationally, as his skills have increasingly developed since he began painting in 2011, making him a rising star of contemporary African art.

Nigerian artist Clement Mmaduako Nwafor creates incredible large-scale mixed media canvases using oil paint and collage.
Clement Mmaduako Nwafor - Nigerian Art

Clement Mmaduako Nwafor - Nigerian Art

Clement Mmaduako Nwafor - Nigerian Art

He works and sells his art the Maitama Amusement Park in Abuja, Nigeria.

Contemporary African Art by Clement Mmaduako Nwafor

Oil Painting by Contemporary African Artist Clement Mmaduako Nwafor

Some of his paintings cleverly incorporate a proverbs written on a paper earring.

Oil Painting by Contemporary African Artist Clement Mmaduako Nwafor

Oil Painting by Contemporary African Artist Clement Mmaduako Nwafor

The Nigerian painter often shares images of his process via Instagram, allowing us to see how his paintings develop over time.

Oil Painting by Contemporary African Artist Clement Mmaduako Nwafor

Oil Painting by Contemporary African Artist Clement Mmaduako Nwafor

Contemporary African Art by Clement Mmaduako Nwafor

Contemporary African Art by Clement Mmaduako Nwafor

Contemporary African Art by Clement Mmaduako Nwafor

Contemporary African Art by Clement Mmaduako Nwafor

Contemporary African Art by Clement Mmaduako Nwafor

Oil Painting by Contemporary African Artist Clement Mmaduako Nwafor

Clement Mmaduako Nwafor: Website | Facebook | Instagram

My Modern Met granted permission to use photos by Clement Mmaduako Nwafor.

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Jessica Stewart

Jessica Stewart is a Contributing Writer and Digital Media Specialist for My Modern Met, as well as a curator and art historian. Since 2020, she is also one of the co-hosts of the My Modern Met Top Artist Podcast. She earned her MA in Renaissance Studies from University College London and now lives in Rome, Italy. She cultivated expertise in street art which led to the purchase of her photographic archive by the Treccani Italian Encyclopedia in 2014. When she’s not spending time with her three dogs, she also manages the studio of a successful street artist. In 2013, she authored the book 'Street Art Stories Roma' and most recently contributed to 'Crossroads: A Glimpse Into the Life of Alice Pasquini'. You can follow her adventures online at @romephotoblog.
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