My works are diverse and come in different styles, but the subject matters are mostly afro centric. If you've seen my works, you may notice that I have painted quite a few angels, this comes from my religious back ground, I'm a roman catholic, born and raised, and I believe in all I have been taught, but the problem I had was the way we, and by that I mean Africans, were being taught, for example, a few years ago I was in Poland, while there, I visited a lot of churches and saw beautiful magnificent paintings which added to the aesthetic value of the churches.

     Now being an AIESECer (a member/alumnus of the international organization for young people to discover and reach their full potential, AIESEC), I had learnt to think globally and act locally, so I asked myself " why don't we have nice paintings in my church, its been around for over a hundred years, I think it should have something there", when I returned to my country I made the first of three paintings for the church. It was a typical one, Mary carrying a baby Jesus(the fact that the Jesus had blonde hair and blue eyes with faint rosy lips bothered me a little, but all in all it was a nice painting), the only difference was that next to them I painted an angel, a black angel, wearing a type of bracelet which I make, as my own hidden signature, I didn't think much of this addition at first. It wasn't until my mother came to me and first commented on the fact that Jesus and Mary should not wear bracelets did I start to wonder what kind of mentality we as Africans have of our religious icons. I left the work as it was and when it was finished, I presented to the church. It was well received by the priest, but then a curious thing happened, and elderly man called to me and said "my son, this is a nice painting, but honestly, do you really believe there are black angels?" and I heard another person comment on my painting saying "what is this demon doing next to Jesus and Mary?" I was speechless! I turned to the old man and said "yes I do believe angels come in black to". Then he proceeded to tell me how they were always taught that all black angels were demons and asked if I have ever seen a black angel, my response to him was "sir, if God created man in all shades of colours, and science says Africa is the cradle of civilization, I see no reasons why there can not be a black angel in heaven!" then he asked me again "have you ever seen a black angel?" and I answered, "has anyone ever seen any angel, whatever colour?" then he smiled and went on his way.
     This painting now hangs at the entrance of the St Paul's catholic church Ebute-Metta (Lagos) next to another which I made with saint Paul in prison being watched by another angel, and not only was this angel black too, but it was also female. A few weeks later I went there and I noticed some children looking at the little black angel in the painting and one of them said to the other "it looks just like you".) and I felt this great sense of happiness because for the first time I witnessed a child in my neighbourhood being able to recognize himself in the image of an angel thereby making the concept of God and spiritual being seem not so foreign anymore, and hopefully, who knows other Nigerian children may realize the potential within themselves and begin to see themselves in a new light too. My trip to Poland taught me to use my art as a means of passing a message to the society, and coming to Europe in general, I have realized that the true custodians of a nation's history, beauty and heritage are the artists, and that has fueled me to go on and try to discover new ways to use my arts as a means of positively promoting my country and my people.

     Paintings available for sale on this site come fully framed, and the cost of the frame and transportation are included in the price of each painting.
     Apart from the works currently on display, more paintings and subsequently other works such as textiles, T-shirt prints and bracelets works will be added to this site in the not too distant future.
     As you look through, do send me a feed back on what you feel about my works, for as any artist knows, there is always room for constructive criticism. It's what makes us grow.

EXHIBITIONS:

     "International women's day exhibition" , solo exhibition dedicated to the international day for women. United Nations House, bld Primaveri nr 48, Bucharest, Romania. (2009)

     "Red Cross, international summer exhibition" , international group exhibition to help raise money for the Red cross, and its activities for victims of war crimes. the painting. '' at the tap'' (which recieved 3rd place position overall) was auctioned by Christies auction house and part of the proceed was donated to the Red cross for its activities. The Hague, Netherlands. (2008)

     "Tallinn winter exhibition" , group exhibition held to raise money for orphaned children in Estonia. (2008)

     "A Different Life" , solo exhibition held at the IRECSON institute, nr. 2 calea victoriei, Bucharest, Romania. (2008)

     "Through the eyes of a Nigerian" , Solo exhibition held at the United Nations House, Nr. 48A Primaveri blvd. Bucharest, Romania. (2007)

     Participant, " Spirit of a Small Planet" the Red Cross Fund Rasing Exhibition at the Coningsby Gallery in London. (2007)

     Participant, "The tribute to Rotonde" Exhibition, Gallery Gabrichidze, Brussels, Belgium. (April 2007)

     Participant, " Creativity in UNILAG", an art exhibition held at the University of Lagos, Nigeria main Auditorium. (2004)

     Participant, "Talent exhibition show (TALEX'98)", organized by AIESEC Lagos , Nigeria. (1998)


     THANK YOU!
          - Kingsley "kaiza" Nwabia

Dedicated to the loving memory of

MOSES AJIBOYE, Friend and mentor, Who taught me the values of
patience and perseverance to the life of
a struggling artist, and also the importance
of not straying too far from one's roots
in the pursuit of artistic acceptance.