Studio visit with Layo Bright
To call Layo Bright determined is an understatement. As a law student who dreamed of becoming an artist, she was committed to following her chosen path. Since receiving her MFA from Parsons School of Design, Layo has been featured in several exhibitions including Sean Kelly in NY, the Lincoln Center, and Stavros Niarchos Foundation in Athens. Layo is represented by Monique Meloche gallery and is currently preparing for an upcoming solo show.
Considering your unconventional journey to becoming an artist, what propelled you to redirect your career to art and step into the big unknown?
I reached a point where I knew I had to decide whether to take the plunge or to stay with law. Art had been a constant in my life and I had an undeniable passion for painting and drawing. On the other hand, I felt pressured to study a profession like law, though my heart wasn’t in it. It didn’t help that my university in Nigeria didn’t offer any fine art courses. So I was unsure of how to ‘become an artist’ and where to start.
This propelled me to seek the knowledge I badly wanted. I talked to artists, read art books, and dedicated time each day to drawing and experimenting. I created an Art Club on campus and visited exhibitions. Each activity gave me fuel for the next one and it felt fulfilling to create space for what I love to do.
After law school, I interned as a studio assistant with Peju Alatise, a Nigerian artist I had always admired. The experience was transformative for me. Her discipline and passion was infectious and it was then that I could truly envision life as an artist. Instead of working in law, I applied for an MFA at The Royal College of Art and Parsons School of Design. I got into both and chose Parsons.
When you think about the work that you create, what purpose do you want it to serve in the world and what do you want people to take away?
I want my works to mirror questions for the viewer on how we perceive one another, connections to spirituality and family, and the inevitability of migration in our fast-paced changing world. There’s no prescribed takeaway though it is great to hear how a viewer gains new knowledge encountering the works, the symbology within it, or connects to the narrative in their personal story.
As a multidisciplinary artist, how do you think about communicating your ideas across multiple mediums? Are specific mediums better suited to tell certain stories?
Over time I’ve worked with different materials and mediums thinking through my identity, perceptions, and issues of migration. I’m drawn to materials that have symbolic cultural meaning or that lend to the narrative quality of a work I’m creating. By ‘narrative quality’ I mean there are histories that materials have been a part of, and that have shaped collective perception and identities. I’m interested in their origins, the conversations they generate, and how they exist in the world now.
With glass, I’m interested in its resilience, historical applications, and present day uses. In its compositional structure, glass is amorphous (neither solid nor liquid) and is said to be in flux between the two states at room temperature. I relate to that sense of being in between and in flux, as a Nigerian artist living in the U.S., unraveling personal family history and considering the African migrant crisis.
My panel works also include the “Ghana-must-go bag”, a tote bag which is referred to by different names around the world, and is linked to migrant communities. For example in NYC it is known as the Chinatown tote bag, and in the UK the Bangladeshi bag. In Nigeria, it became known as Ghana-must-go bag, following a xenophobic anti-immigration decree that resulted in the forceful eviction of about 2 million Ghanaians from the country.
Looking ahead to the long term, how important is to shape your practice and associated activities to build longevity in the art world? How do you balance any inherent tension between creating longevity and satisfying more immediate demand?
It is important to think ahead as an artist, especially given the unpredictability of the art world coupled with the desire to be a practicing artist for the long run. All of it won’t be rosey, heck life in general isn’t! For me, community is the backbone for an artist where they can contribute and feel supported, which adds to longevity in making impactful work. I’m interested in more programming alongside exhibitions to broaden the reach and scope of the work and ideas.
Regarding creating longevity vs. satisfying immediate demand, my work always comes first. In the sense that I’m concerned with what I’m making, how I’m advancing my thoughts and how it all comes together. It’s a burden for me to think of satisfying immediate demand vs. longevity, because both options demand different elements.