SOLD!!!!

SOLD!!!!

Artist: Moyo Okediji

Title: Ela, Offspring of Olodumare

Acrylic and soil on canvas.

Date: 2020

In art as in love:

never hesitate when

you see the one

you desire. S/he may be gone

tomorrow, or no longer

resident where last you met.

Interpretation:

Ẹ̀là is a noun formed from là,

meaning “emerge,” “open,” “liberate,”

“luminous,” “sparkle,” or “prosper.”

It is the first word or “ọ̀rọ̀” of Creation,

the word spoken by Olódùmarè

to initiate the dawn of creation.

Ẹ̀là is therefore the offspring of Olódùmarè.

Ẹ̀là refers to the birth

of all things—when the sun emerges,

and the seed breaks the soil

to germinate, and the poor

becomes rich, and the dying

is healed and lives

—all these refer to Ẹ̀là.

Ẹ̀là is the universe.

Ẹ̀là is Ile Ife, where the whole of life emerged.

In this painting, I represent Ẹ̀là as a globe, within which light emerges as movement, in humanoid form, still unformed, as shapes shift to the moment of becoming and dissolving.

Ẹ̀là is a moment connecting

past, present with future,

in luminous patterns

as the eyes light the night