Defining African Sculpture

Visitors to Eboigbe's exhibitions often note the spiritual impression created by many of his pieces. The traditional realistic sculptures possess a quality of emotion, whether it be the somber rigid pride of an elaborately costumed Benin King, or the lithe, sensual motion suggested by a barefooted dancing girl. Regarding this spiritual quality, Eboigbe explains that his work embodies the essence of Africa, the country and its people, from which he captures moments and moods preserving them forever in his sculpture.

The realistic traditional sculptures, usually warriors, women and chiefs, show rigid control of line movement. In his traditional style of sculpture, Eboigbe believes detail is important, not only artistically, but historically as well. Because African tribes have no written history, events and customs of cultural significance were passed to each generation through language and epic stories. Many of Eboigbe's sculptures are physical translations of Benin legends told to him by his grandfather. He believes that with his art, he can help to record and preserve, in a unique and beautiful form, the cultural, religious, and tribal history of Benin for future generations.

Eboigbe's sculpture is conceived in two styles, either abstract or realistic sculpture depicting characters from the Benin tribal history. He may spend from two weeks up to two years on any single piece depending on the difficulty of the subject. Eboigbe's preferred medium is wood, "it is alive, almost a piece of sculpture already," he believes. Eboigbe does not sketch before beginning to sculpt. He looks at the wood, the pattern of its grain, and gets a "feeling" from the piece, whether it might have a traditional African or an abstract character. Often the subject of the piece will be obvious, such as when "there is an African girl dancing right out of an 8-foot piece of wood."

When Eboigbe begins to sculpt, he uses his own hand-made ebony mallets to shape the wood. The only other tools he uses are chisels and an axe. He uses hand tools to record each minute detail of traditional African physical features or dress, creating an original work of art. For abstract pieces, he creates mainly female figures, or animals. The abstracts are characterized by a clear celebration of shape.

Since coming to the United States, Eboigbe sculpts in American Walnut more often than the Black and King Ebony he used in Nigeria. Though skilled in marble and ivory sculpture, he favors the beauty and texture of wood grains. Another difference in his work since he left Nigeria is the size of many of his sculptures. Here in America, Eboigbe has found that he sculpts larger, more imposing figures, as if in response to the largeness of American trees and architecture, unlike those found in his own country. Some of the pieces he has created in America stand 7 to 9 feet tall and weigh up to 450 pounds.

Perhaps the most extraordinary aspect of Eboigbe's artwork is that each piece is absolutely unique, a one-of-a-kind, never to be duplicated. To own this rare form of art is truly an exclusive privilege.