Discover Osinachi, The Digital Artist Who Turned Microsoft Word Into His Canvas

"I find myself being inspired by 

Image: Osinachi via Konbini


BY ADEWOJUMI ADEREMI


To many of us, Microsoft Word is simply a word processing program used for writing, editing and, on occasion, making a table or two. But for Osinachi, Microsoft Word is much more than that — it's his canvas for his enthralling digital art creations.

Starting out as a writer by the name of Prince Jacon — you’ve definitely seen his words right here on Konbini — Osinachi fell into visual arts largely out of boredom.

While in secondary school, upon completing his writing assignments, with nothing better to do, Osinachi began playing around with the various features on Microsoft Word — discovering artistic functions to which most of us are oblivious.

Though the pressures of his undergraduate degree didn’t allow for many distractions, after his degree, Osinachi fell back into his artistic ways, and this time around he stuck with it.

"In 2014, I had just finished my undergraduate studies and I was lazing about, waiting for NYSC call-up. Then I started playing around on my computer and that was when I rediscovered what I could do on MS Word."

Without any formal digital art training, Osinachi embraced Instagram as his gallery. Sharing his audacious pieces to an ever-increasing number of followers.

It has only been about a year since Osinachi began to take his career as an artist more seriously, but his works have already been picked up by notable online art retailers, such as Polartics, and exhibited at the Ethereal Summit Conference in New York last year.

Speaking with Konbini about his rapid successes so far, Osinachi recalls two career-defining moments:

"I would say the first was when ARTOJA replied my email, saying they loved my work and would like to market it. The second was when Artnet, the biggest art market website in the world, featured my work on their Instagram account. It basically made me the face of contemporary African art on Instagram."

With motif's reminiscent of Picasso's signature style, Osinachi's works are completely captivating, for their boldness in colour and form. He talks us through what inspires his works, saying:

"At first, as you would see in my early works on Instagram, I was inspired by how a combination of colours can create a striking effect. But these days, I find myself being inspired by my experiences as an Igbo man and a Nigerian. My subjects are first and foremost black. That is my own way of exploring the black experience. This is why I use my Igbo name, Osinachi, for all my creative works."

So far, he's got two standout series' behind him already,

"One is called 'They Say I'm a Hoe', exploring sex and sexuality among males. The other is called 'August Meeting', exploring the meeting Igbo women hold in villages every August."

As one of our own, we’re so excited to chart his growth and can't wait to see what he comes out with next. You can purchase Osinachi's works from ARTOJA and Polartics or simply see more via his Instagram page.

SOURCE: KONBINI

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