Learn more about TMA’s Artist-in Residence Osinachi

Prince Jacon Osinachi Igwe, (b.1991), commonly known as Osinachi, is the museum’s latest artist-in-residence and an intriguing individual. His ascent in the international art world came about rather suddenly through unconventional means.  

Osinachi lives in Lagos, Nigeria, which at 25 million people boasts the largest population in Africa. Some of the wealthiest and many of the poorest people in Africa live in this huge city. Seen through our eyes, Lagos seems vibrant,chaotic, and very, very crowded. From his comfortable, yet modest home in the middle of this bustling city he creates colorful, celebratory art that confounds both artists and the art market alike and has skyrocketed him into recognition as one of the most influential artists in the virtual art world.

Just the Basics

Osinachi’s art is particularly intriguing to digital artists because his tools of the trade are very rudimentary. Any graphic artist will tell you that Microsoft Word is an extremely basic, undesirable platform on which to create art, however this is Osinachi’s only artist’s tool. When he was 15 years old he got his first computer.  He intended on being a writer but started doodling using the tools in Word while he was writing. This evolved into a quest to push the limits of what Word can do artistically. As an artist he is still going down this path of exploration.

Art in the virtual world

Osinachi is also pushing the boundaries of the art market. As he began creating more and more art he puzzled over the problem of how ownership of an original digital work of art can be documented. How can the original truly last as an original when anyone can copy and paste an image on a computer? As he was looking for a platform to sell and display his art beyond Instagram, while also researching proof of ownership in the digital world, he came across the blockchain. 

Turning his digital works of art into NFTs or non-fungible tokens, basically means that in the virtual world, a certificate of ownership of a work of art is recorded in a digital ledger of transactions that is time and date stamped. This is the blockchain. This certificate proves ownership and authenticity. Osinachi, as the proven owner of the work of art can now go on to sell it by transferring that ownership to a person who wishes to purchase that certificate of ownership from him.

Fostering Connection

Osinachi’s passion has evolved to helping other African artists get recognition for their work.  He has collaborated with MakersPlace, a premier NFT marketplace for digital artists, to create an accelerator program to help onboard African digital artists into the blockchain world.  

While he is passionate about introducing the digital arts to his fellow Africans, he is just as eager to help bridge the gap between the traditional and digital arts.  He works to facilitate more crossover which brings him to spaces rich in traditional art such as TMA

An unlikely path towards the future 

It is truly incredible to follow Osinachi’s ascent in the virtual art world.  He went from a child experimenting with creating art with Microsoft Word on his first computer in 2015 to a completely self-taught artist displaying and selling his art on the blockchain in 2018, to helping to facilitate crossover with the traditional art collecting world by being the first African artist to have his work digitally auctioned at Christie’s Europe in 2021. 

Osinachi is certainly an artist to watch as the definition of art and the trajectory of what it means to be an artist continue to evolve, stretch and expand.