Then I Remembered A Charm

_{^{Selected work from the duo exhibition “Then I Remembered A Charm”}} _{^{(SOTO Gallery, 2025)}}

In this body of work, Osaji explores mythology as a mediator of refuge and memory.

Passed down across generations through storytelling and song, myths often convey existential themes of morality, the creation of the universe, and community. They help us understand our place in the world.

Through deconstructed drawings inspired by Igbo and Yoruba ritual masks, and allegorical compositions alluding to myths such as the origin of his ancestral land in the Niger Delta, Osaji embodies mythology as a repository of cross-generational memory.

His interactive installation “Write Your Name In Dust” invites the audience to engage with personal memory while contemplating indigenous naming practices and the cultural belief in the capacity of names to influence a person’s fate.

Rooted in collaboration between the artist and the audience, the installation further examines concepts of authorship and temporality while suggesting the possibility of being an active custodian of one’s fate.

One night, the headless man swallowed life
_{^{Charcoal & Pastel on Paper}} – *_{^{32 x 24 inches – 2025}}*

Terrestrial Mother _^(SOLD)
*_{^{Charcoal & Pastel on Paper}}* – *_{^{32 x 24 inches – 2025}}*

One night, the headless man swallowed life 2
_{^{Charcoal & Pastel on Paper}} – *_{^{32 x 24 inches – 2025}}*

With dust in their eyes, they looked to heaven _^(SOLD)
*_{^{Charcoal & Pastel on Paper}}* – *_{^{32 x 24 inches – 2025}}*

Terrestrial Mother 2
_{^{Charcoal & Pastel on Paper}} – *_{^{32 x 24 inches – 2025}}*

Heaven’s Will
_{^{Charcoal & Pastel on Paper}} – *_{^{11.7 x 16.5 inches – 2025}}*

Invocation
_{^{Charcoal & Pastel on Paper}} – *_{^{11.7 x 16.5 inches – 2025}}*

Mmuo (Ascent)
*_{^{Charcoal & Pastel on Paper}}* – *_{^{11.7 x 16.5 inches – 2025}}*

Mmuo (Descent)
*_{^{Charcoal & Pastel on Paper}}* – *_{^{11.7 x 16.5 inches – 2025}}*

Vague Sigh (The broken voice of God)
*_{^{Charcoal & Pastel on Paper}}* – *_{^{11.7 x 16.5 inches – 2024}}*

Saudade
_{^{Charcoal & Pastel on Paper}} – *_{^{11.7 x 16.5 inches – 2025}}*

“In developing this body of work, I was interested in the contradictions inherent in time, death, and rebirth – the neverending beginnings. The choice of material being the first response to this: charcoal, a symbol of transformation and transience.“

“Building on this tenet, the interactive installation exists between two meanings: the act of writing your name in charcoal dust as a literal engagement with personal memory, and as a gesture of manifestation – asserting your will on your fate, essentially treating your name as an invocation.“

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