DEBORAH SEGUN: WHERE IS MY MIND?
We are thrilled to present our second solo exhibition by BEERS artist Deborah Segun. The title Where Is My Mind? purposefully chosen by Segun comes from a strong need of being at one with mind and body – a life-long search for harmonious balance within one’s self. In other words, a continuous journey toward self-realization.
Segun has referred to her art as a form of self-soothing: art as an escape when one feels like they are reaching a tipping point that could be harmful to one’s well-being. For Segun, the artist’s lived experience provides a sort of road map to understanding who she is: “Lived experience provides the framework for each of us to comprehend our environment and the greater world around us,” she says in response to this new body of work.
Her previous exhibition was about learning to love and understand one’s self, and it appears that in many ways, this body of work continues that thread. Segun herself says: “The world can be so overstimulating sometimes. There’s a constant sense of chaos and our experiences can sometimes present themselves in behavioural traits that either act as a form of protection or serve as a blueprint for how we respond to future experiences.”
For the viewer, the works seem to emanate a sense of peace and comfort. It would appear that art is the answer for Segun to find solace in our world. For Segun, painting comes from a need to “be at one with the mind and body, [to have] a continuous search for harmonious balance within one’s self. A journey towards self-realization.”
DEBORAH SEGUN (b. 1994, Nigeria) lives and works in Lagos, Nigeria. She obtained a degree in Fashion Design at the Polimoda Institute of Fashion Design and Marketing in Florence, Italy in 2017.
Solo exhibitions include: You Keep Going Through It, I’m Just Coming Back From It, Breeder Gallery, Athens, Greece (2022); The Little Things I Need to Make Me Whole, ADA Gallery, Accra, Ghana (2022); How To Fall In Love, BEERS London, (2021); Being Free, SMO Contemporary Art Gallery, Lagos, Nigeria (2020); Play as Collective, AWCA, ArtxLagos Art Fair, Lagos, Nigeria (2019); Still Life Art Oja, Lagos, Nigeria (2019) and; I Feel Like I Am, Relate Africa, Lagos, Nigeria, (2019).
Group exhibitions include: Eparapo, The Working Girls Forum, A Whitespace Creative Agency, Lagos, Nigeria (2019); Art Oja Portfolio II, Miliki, Lagos, Nigeria (2018); Family & Friends, Wafflesncream, Lagos, Nigeria (2018) and; Polimoda Performance Art & Fashion Show, Florence Italy (2017).
Art Fairs include: Frieze London (2021); Frieze New York, NY (2021); Armory New York, NY (2021); Frieze Los Angeles, LA (2021); 1-54 Contemporary African Fair, London, (2021); FIAC Paris (2021) and; Affordable Art Fair, Lagos, Nigeria (2019).