Ato Arinze and Okonkwo's Tree of Life

"Nature, particularly the tree teaches us a lot. If only we can all learn to be as tolerant as the trees in the forest and as humble as the blade of grass, imagine how peaceful our society will be."
Ato Arinze

Ato Arinze, a native of Onitsha in Anambra state, was born in Lagos in 1966. He studied art at Federal Polytechnic and sculpture at the prestigious Yaba College of Technology in Lagos. For over two decades, he has used ceramics as a medium for self-expression. 

As a remarkable experimenter, Arinze is one of the few artists challenging the traditional use of clay in ceramics. He has questioned the mere utilitarian value of clay by using it to illustrate the this artwork. Titled 'Oke Osisi,' it is an Igbo phrase which is used to address a person of great strength and capacity.

'Oke Osisi' is a depiction of a close-up intertwining of trees, mutually tolerant and interdependent. Although the trees are arranged in a hierarchical pattern, their interrelatedness speaks of human nature in the world we live in.

'Oke Osisi' is a tribute to Okonkwo, the protagonist in Chinua Achebe's novel 'Things Fall Apart'. The piece is an allusion to Okeosisi, a big tree that could make a forest. Such big trees like the Iroko tree among the Yorubas and the Oji tree among the Igbos are found in many localities and are used to build shrines and homes for town or village deities.

Okeosisi is in some cases a title given to someone of great importance and typically notable achievements. Praise names such as Agu (leopard) or Oke osisi (the big tree) are common in Africa, especially among the Igbos. These praise names usually imply that the individual in question is doing exceptionally well within a group and in Chinua Achebe's 'Things Fall Apart', Okonkwo was such a character

The series from which 'Oke Osisi' emanates is inspired by nature and events in the artist’s environment. It is part of a body of work, 'Tree of Life' which the artist began to create between 1995 and 1997 after he had read a book with that title by a South African author, Professor Burne Jones.