THE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

THE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

I woke up during the night and went to the bathroom.

There was no water to wash my hands.

No hot water. No cold water.

What was going on?

I went downstairs.

No running water.

The following morning, I called the water people. I waited in the line for almost two hours, and finally, it was my turn.

“You will not have water for a couple of days,” said the water lady at the other end of the call. “Don’t bother calling your plumber. They can’t help you.”

“You mean I won’t have water for one or two days?” I asked, in utter disbelief.

“No, sir,” she said. “It’s not just you. It’s a state-wide crisis. Your taps will not run for three or four days until the weather situation improves.”

My Nigerian background says this is nothing.

I had been out of water for years when I lived in Nigeria—you just manage to be resourceful.

So, I returned to my painting.

After two weeks of being resourceful and without water, I completed my painting, PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE.

It celebrates water as maternal, mysterious, hot, warm or cold–and connecting the past, the present and the future.