Promise Onali (b. 1982) studied fine art at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, where he graduated with a degree in painting in 2007. His love for comic books and science, as well as his pre-occupation with figuring out the inner workings of things influenced his experimental painting style. Onali’s use of diverse media to explore scientific questions is grounded in strong linearity and embryonic metaphors. His fascination with how our nerve endings disperse energy and electric charges which give birth to ideas and thought, are reflected in the subtle layers of his mixed media works.
Onali’s mixed media works, pull the observer into a world of lineal complexity comprised of careful rendition of lines and swirls that evoke a certain sense of ambiguity. His paintings of circles and embryos are metaphors for the evolution of consciousness, with most of the figures in profile, embedded in circles or laden with embryonic swirls, which represent the consciousness bubble of each individual, family, community, or nation.