Bosede Opetubo

Sometimes interviews with artists are fairly straightforward. And other times they go places we would never imagine. . . like this one, with Bosede (pronounced Bo-Seh-DAY) Ajibola Opetubo. 

Can you tell us about an art project you are working on now?

I’m currently making a book called “a kind of life” – it’s a visual retelling of Lucille Clifton’s “won’t you celebrate with me,” a poem about black female resilience in the face of unrelenting struggle.  Listen to Clifton reading the poem, or read it here. 

This piece started as a typical book when I began working on it last fall, but it has certainly evolved since then. It’s now a cell, in the form of a sculpture made from wire, thread, and various odds and ends from my life. I was thinking about Clifton’s poem, and my own relationship to being a woman, being Black, being American, being queer, being a mother, being a survivor… and how so many systems we’re born into are designed to be broken. Or to break you.  The poem is ultimately celebratory – but when I read it, I could only think about the impact it has on a person… to live a life entirely devoted to surviving. It’s crazymaking! So I had to shift – it’s a book, it’s a cell, it's a box, it's a cage, it's a dice. It’s a container, like all my work, for feelings and knowings and experiences that defy words. The work tells a story about domesticity, abuse, heteronormativity, having a body, American racism, being a mother. The sculpture is still a book to me, and it's about feeling trapped, making do, and, in one way or another, getting free.

Do you have a dream project?

So many! Just from this poem alone. I think of this cell as kind of Part 1 of my exploration of this poem. Part 2 is a marathon poetry reading that I will be hosting this summer in Roxbury– it’s part experiential theatre, part queer literary analysis, part dance party. And there are about 100 other potential parts. Part 3ish is me collaborating with other Black mothers, other queer women and gender non-conforming people, and other survivors of domestic violence to create more cells that reflect and amplify their unique stories. Collaborative artmaking is my passion, so no piece ever feels finished until someone else’s hands are on it. And really, it’s never finished.  Everything is a process; I (and my work) am constantly changed, recreated, redefined, and changed again. 

Do you have any rules about making art?

I have a thousand rules! A million. I’m a Capricorn after all. But I try not to take them too seriously. “Don’t rush” is a core rule for me, in all things. So is “Time is fake, math isn’t.” I am always fighting the urge to think of time in terms of scarcity. Instead I choose to believe I have just as much of everything that I need. And whatever I run out of is just no longer mine.

Can you describe a rule you have broken in art and what it means to you?

I’m breaking a rule by even talking about works in progress, or experiments that I did for no reason that I haven’t finished. Like this drawing… breaking my own rules means I’m still an active participant in my life. “I’m boundaried, not rigid.” That’s another rule ha.  But, back to the drawing. It started because I should be doing arm stretches, and don’t. So, I thought, let’s put a crayon in my hand while I do it on a huge piece of paper. I drew this with my arms stretched behind me while I was facing the other way, or while my arm was stretched out to the side. I wasn’t even looking at the paper most of the time. I eventually turned around and made a few front-facing marks. But, drawing without looking was definitely new to me, and I loved it. It actually inspired a bunch of ideas that are going to go on my very long list of other ideas. 

What is one tool you can’t make art without?

My brain? I’m so grateful for it. I find art everywhere, most recently in the shape of a tangelo peel. It looked beautiful, it smelled glorious, and it reminded me of the seed, and the flowers, and the soil, and the sun that made that fruit possible. Art allows me to live a glorious life. Thank you, brain.

What do you like about ACM?

This is my first studio space, and I’m so glad it's here. Immediately, ACM felt like home in all the good ways. Everyone is so talented and lovely and relaxed and warm. Community is everything to me, and I’m thrilled to be a part of this one.  

We are grateful to Bosede for sharing her amazing creativity and warmth with us! Learn more about her work at sahmcreative.com.