Palms of Destiny

Susanne Wenger also known as Adunni Olorisha was an Austrian-Nigerian painter, sculptor and textile artist born in Graz, Austria in 1915, during the first world war. She was quite drawn to nature as a child and would spend a lot of time in the woods as a result. Her first formal art education was at the College for Arts and Crafts, Gratz where she learned and experimented various artistic techniques including drawing, pottery and clay sculptures. She relocated to Vienna where she spent 2 years at the Vienna Academy of Art studying ancient fresco technique. She came to Nigeria in early 1950 with her husband, Ulli Beier, who was a scholar and had been posted to the University College, Ibadan (now the University of Ibadan) to teach at the time. She spent the rest of years in Nigeria during which she: dedicated her life to learning the rich culture and tradition of the Yoruba people; supported and promoted the local art tradition of the people and its indigenous artists through the Oshogbo Art Workshops in the 1960s; and led the restoration of numerous sacred groves and shrines of worship of the Yoruba gods in and around Osogbo in what was known as the “Sacred Art Movement”. She was assisted in the movement by different artists including Kasali Akangbe, Adebisi Akanji, Braimoh Akanji, Lamidi Aruisa, Buraimoh Gbadamosi among others who were masters in techniques like clay and cement sculpture, woodcarving etc and together they built solid monumental structures and sculptures at the sacred groves and shrines of worship of the people. Susanne also made contributions to Yoruba literature by consistently writing and publishing books both in English and Yoruba languages. In 2008, she was declared a Member of the Order of the Federal Republic (MFR), a national honour by Nigerian Government.

Palms of Destiny is a print representation of two pairs of both palms of the human hand. The top pair shows prints of the left palm while the bottom shows that of the right palm. The colour of the ink both palms were dipped in is black and the printing process was meticulously executed. The title of the work brings to mind a popular saying that “the destiny of one is in his own hands”, perhaps this was the theme Susanne was trying to express. The Palms and the fingers they bear are at the centre of execution most of the manual tasks in our daily lives as humans. Thus, their place in the achievement of our various goals is indispensable.