Not Alone As Such

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Diana Ohiozebau, “All In This Together I,” 2021, acrylics, Dutch wax fabrics, yarn and aso-oke fabric (photo courtesy of Harcourt House Artist Run Centre)

Peopled with vibrant, painted wall hangings, Diana Ohiozebau’s exhibition Not Alone As Such – on at Harcourt House Artist Run Centre in Edmonton until June 14 – is a celebration of community, resilience and connection. 

Many of the works on display were made in 2022 and were inspired by the pandemic lockdown, when aloneness was magnified for everyone. Ohiozebau remembers thinking at the time, “if we’re all affected, we’re all not alone.” Her work became a rich source of resilience and a way to express the shared humanity in all of us. 

Ohiozebau, a Nigerian artist based in Edmonton, paints on aso-oke fabric, a handwoven cloth from the Yoruba region of Nigeria. This fabric is worn during celebrations and moments of community significance. She sees her art practice as one part of an interconnected story, with many hands contributing to the finished pieces – including the people who picked the cotton, spun the thread and wove the fabric. 

In pieces such as All in this Together I, Ohiozebau takes inspiration from Benin bronzes and masks. The thick black outlines of faces and arms merge into one another, sections of eyes and noses collaged with African prints. Bold oranges, rich mustards, pale blues and deep browns fit together like puzzle pieces. Her style and palette are her visual language, the way she speaks through her work. “That is like my handwriting,” she says. 

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Diana Ohiozebau, “Self-Care,” 2022, acrylic, African fabrics, yarn, aso-oke fabric (photo courtesy of Harcourt House Artist Run Centre)

Ohiozebau plays with the boundaries between painting and sculpture. Her textile paintings hang away from the wall on wooden dowels, creating shadow shapes that have their own soft presence, interplaying with her bright acrylics. Yarn unravels from many of her pieces, trailing towards the floor, echoed by looping shadows on the wall. 

Self Care has a more muted palette, and feels slightly different from the brighter work. A woman hugs herself, her head tilted back, her hair trailing down in brushy black strokes. Eyes closed, lips smiling, she looks content, at peace with herself. This is one of the few pieces in the show with only one figure, and although she is alone, she does not seem lonely. Even depicted alone, the woman is painted on fabric that was touched by a whole community of people. 

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Diana Ohiozebau, “All in this Together II,” 2022, acrylic, African fabrics, yarn, aso-oke fabric (photo courtesy of Harcourt House Artist Run Centre)

Dominating the gallery space is Collective Resilience, a huge span of cloth that stretches across the room in a staggered wave. Sweeping diagonally from one side of the gallery to the other, the piece is made of two different fabrics, white aso-oke on top, with a stretch of orange and yellow fabric patterned with African prints buoying the piece up from below. Black yarn is sewn into the aso-oke, outlining feet, hands, and thick coils of hair. Filaments of white fall onto the floor below. Cascading lower and lower across the space, the fabric finally trails to the floor in long clouds of white, stretching out to the viewers’ feet. 

Ohiozebau continues to push her work forward, and is interested in making ever bigger textile installations, playing with the sculptural potential of fabric.

“The drive is determination, where I see myself, where I want to go,” says Ohiozebau.

“If something is a passion, you find a way.” ■

Diana Ohiozebau: Not Alone As Such, on at Harcourt House Artist Run Centre in Edmonton from May 2 to June 14, 2025. 

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