The Necessary Illusion
In May 2023, I will be holding a Solo Exhibition entitled The Necessary Illusion. This immersive black Art experience will bring to life the key themes from the book The Art of Sucker Duckin.
The Idea
Last Year my now-husband Tierre Cladwell published his book The Art of Sucker Duckin, and it has been selling exceptionally well on Amazon. The feedback he received made me think about how to bring his book’s key themes to life visually. His words touched people and have had a significant impact, changing how they think and handle life situations. I can also attest to this personally; after all, if it were not for this book, I would not be married today.
The Background
In 2018 I started my art journey and was new to posting my artwork on Instagram as Oya Arts. After a couple of weeks online, I came across this profile that captivated me; the imagery and the words resonated with me as I was in a bad stage. After a few months of mutual likes on each other’s posts, we started to talk via DM, and then one day, he asked if he could read a chapter of his book, and the rest, as they say, is history.
The chapter he read to me was Chapter 7, “ How women Can Be Sucker Free in Relationships” It offers a message for women who keep dating idiots and tips on spotting a sucker with an action plan.
As he read through the chapter, I felt like he had written it for me; the implications of my life choices progressively became more apparent.
Following that conversation, I revised my current thinking and put the action plan into practice. Since then, I am now happily married, enjoying my career, and am known internationally for my art. Without that conversation, I wouldn’t be where I am today; it changed my life!
The Lesson
Sucker Dukin By definition is to dissociate yourself from any situation, relationship, or affiliation that limits the growth of life, self, or purpose.
The word SUCKER is an acronym that stands for Someone Ultimately Conspiring to Kill Everything Righteous. DUCKIN stands for Demonstrating an Understanding of Conscious Knowledge Immune to Nothingness.
There were so many nuggets in this book that I knew that I had to bring this to life in paint one day.
The Art
. Nothingness & wasted energy
. The separation of Self
. The seduction of the sucker
. The sound of boundaries
Pieces Of Her
Acrylic on Canvas
This piece is the only image I will release before the exhibition.
“Pieces of Her” is an acrylic painting that looks a the concept of knowledge of self.
The Art of Sucker Duckin, looks at the importance of knowing yourself. When you do not know yourself, you adopt the messages fed through social media and entertainment. This false reality creates the narrative that killing your sense of self is acceptable when it isn’t. This silent rejection of who you are, plus the fear of self-discovery, stops you from discovering your true potential.
In this painting, the subject struggles to be her true self. The yellow circle represents her energy and optimism. She is fighting against who she thinks will be accepted. I used negative space to show how losing yourself can lead to you literally blending into the background.
“The necessary illusion” will be held at Creators Space, St Paul, Minnesota, in May 2023. It will combine painting, film, spoken word, and immersive art experiences.
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