Ona (in Yoruba) means ‘road’ or ‘way’. Life on earth can be metaphorically referred to as a journey. Just like
journeys have a beginning and an end so does earthly life.
Roads daily facilitate our journey. Often this happens so naturally that we do not even think about them. Yet
a road is a very significant reality in our daily deliberations. Some roads are paved and wide, others are dusty
and rough, others are very narrow while others are an interesting combination of all of these and more.
Each will ultimately lead you to a destination. Ultimately the road or your use of it will come to an end.
This mirrors the reality of life and the fact that we are all on a part of the road or the other as we carry on in
our time.
Ona attempts to draw attention to this reality by looking at roads or compositions that feature them, both
representationally and metaphorically.
In this body of work, you will encounter wide roads, unpaved roads, flooded roads and even pit stops beside
the road. Each is a representation of where we are or can be at any given moment, reminding us that we will
ultimately get to a destination.
Incidentally a wide and paved or desirable looking road can lead us where we do not want to be while a rough
and perhaps harzadous one can cause us to end up where we are ecstatic.
In many instances we may not have a choice regarding how we proceed, and perhaps what type of road we
end up using but destination and intent are up to us.
The journey begins on the inside and the road is actually in our heart. We will encounter crossroads, give way
to traffic, overtake and be overtaken. We may even need to reverse along the road sometimes.
What type of road are we on? What is our destination? How do we travel?
Let us be on our journey with a renewed sense of purpose.
Gbenga Orimoloye
March 2012