Ivorian photographic artist Paul Sika has
burst onto the scene with his colourful tableaux depicting ordinary and
not-so-ordinary lives Paul Sika describes himself as a “creative entrepreneur” who realises his vision through films and photography, but “is aware that creativity does not stop there”. The confidence that exudes from this free-thinking photographer, as well as his mature understanding of photography and the moving image, belie his 24 years. A self-taught photographer and cinéaste, Sika says his love of photo-making stems from his passion for storytelling.
 Sika’s journey into the world of photography is nothing short of unusual. It started with a cathartic moment in London after he saw an advert for the movie The Matrix Reloaded. “When I saw the famous highway car chase in the film, the scene shocked me and I was intrigued by what I saw and thought to myself, if this is the kind of imagination that‘s required to make a movie, then I can do it too.”
Sika has quickly become an artistic force to be reckoned with, and his services are now sought after by leading
African brands.
His childhood in Côte d’Ivoire played a big role in his artistic
development before he moved to London to study. He loved video games and became a master storyteller based on plots he made up with his friends. “I started to think that there was a talent inside me that I wasn’t using. And being in a country that has movies, cinemas and a lot of games and different technical equipment, this new opportunity started to come out.”
Artistic licence
Sika enjoys “bending and distorting reality; that’s what attracts me. The fact that I can see it and put it on a screen by being able to distort reality and turn it into something that is beautiful, this is what inspires me the most.”
Sika was studying software engineering at the University of Westminster in London when he was inspired to put his ideas into action.
The thought of seeing his
ideas come to life made him
decide: “This is for me. I can do it and see the physical result of my imagination instantaneously.
“That was why I decided to delve into this path and see what I could do. For me, the ability to use my imagination is the most important thing.
If I could not imagine, that would be tough for me.”
Motivated to buy his first
camera, Sika says he became hooked and hypnotised by it all, becoming more than just a snapper. “I would just shoot everything. But then I thought, I can’t just shoot everything, and I had this search for creativity.” It was this quest that led him to his discovery of David LaChapelle, the American
photographer and film-maker known for his surreal style, after a friend commented that he could see elements of
LaChapelle in Sika’s work. He would later discover American artist Andy Warhol and begin referring to himself as Warhol’s grandson. “When I saw LaChapelle’s work, I thought, this is amazing. How can someone have such imagination? And when you go back in history, David LaChappelle was mentored by Andy Warhol. So it was more of the artistic-father thing, that’s why I referred to myself as Andy Warhol’s grandson.”
However, Sika is adamant that he is not heavily influenced by renowned artists. “Apart from LaChapelle, the stimuli which creates images in my mind are the different things I encounter in my daily life – it could be from a book, a movie or a joke. But contrary to many artists, I don’t have other famous and big artists as my influence. There are loads of influences which come from my direct environment.”
Monochrome, illustration and photo-making are the many facets of Sika’s photographic oeuvre. Within these three themes, he has created striking images of intense colour. He says his use of colour is meant to fill people’s imagination, the same way their “internal artistic tank” is filled with satisfaction when they see a work of art. “The colours have two purposes; one is to open the doors to imagination, as these colours give way to interpretation. These colours are for me a way to fill up people’s internal tanks, and because of this, the most important thing is that the people who view the work are sent into another dimension.”
An artist who does not believe in the preconceived art form, Sika says he “receives” the ideas for the different works that he has produced and that allows his work to narrate itself – it is a creative process which cannot be separated from the creative force.
Paul Sika biography 1985 Born in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire
2003-7 Studies for a bachelor’s degree in
software engineering at University of
Westminster, United Kingdom
2008 Starts work as a freelance photographer
November 2008 Has his first exhibition,
hosted at Galerie Le Lab, Abidjan
2009 Works as a consultant and project manager
with National Basketball Federation of Benin
October 2009 Launches an exhibition at the
Chinua Achebe Center, New York
2010 Nearing completion of his first book
containing a collection of his photography.
Entitled At the Heart of Me, the book is
due out early this year |
“And when this force is at work, it is larger than me; it leads me and guides me into all this creative work. Hence, I approach creativity from a different point of view. Sometimes, I don’t concentrate on creating a
narrative. I just feel things and when I feel I’m going a certain way, I follow that path and I know it is going to create things that will be logical and will have a message. It’s a process I can’t put into words.”
He credits this process for producing one of his most outstanding bodies of work, the Africa Series, which celebrates the continent’s culture and spirit. Sika used young people from his home
country to create a series of stories about Africa. “Africa is the environment that I’m in and it surrounds me, so I think my hopes and feelings for Africa translated into those photos. Hopes of a cheerful
Africa, a colourful Africa, a beautiful Africa ... they are joyful people in those
photos,” he says.
Sika does not want to give meanings to his images because that might limit viewers’ interpretations or, in his words “crystallise the multiple interpretations that emanate through the different personalities they embody”.
However, he shared some insights with The Africa Report on the context in which the photographs taken in the Paillet neighbourhood of Abidjan, featured above, were originated and formed.
Sika is working on his first photo book, due out early this year. He also has a fellowship with the Chinua Achebe Centre in New York, which he hopes to take up later in the year.
With the world at his feet, you would expect that Sika’s next dream is for his work to be seen at some of the world’s most prestigious exhibitions like Art Basel or the Venice Biennale. But he says the place he would most like to see his work is in “the collective heart of the planet”.
“It’s a more utopian way of saying I would like my work to be in the heart of everybody so that they can remember it and don’t have to go somewhere to see it again and again because it is so close to them, they just know it.” |
