Panel of Miniatures

Born in 1932, Bruce Onobrakpeya was a pioneer member of the Zaria art society. He and likeminded artists initiated the synthesis of traditional arts with western techniques (natural synthesis) to promote cultural awareness. This became successful and is presently the driving force of their art. Onobrakpeya draws his inspiration from his Urhobo cultural heritage, since he hails from Agbarah-otor in Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State, Nigeria. The artist mostly explores mythical and folkloric themes and goes beyond naturalism to express the delicate subject. Although trained as a painter from the art program at the Nigerian College of Art, Science, and Technology in Zaria in 1961, Onobrakpeya also expresses himself through etching, sculptures, drawing and printmaking.

Over the course of his career, he has developed techniques in printmaking and relief sculptures that are very unique. The technique used in this work is metal foil deep etching. In this technique, aluminum foil is used to draw engraved images. The thin foil is then cut and placed in an engraved plate. Then the embossed sheet is removed, turned over and filled with resin to stabilize the relief. The resin filled foil is then laminated on wood or any other surface. This piece depicts masklike faces in little squares.