A Transmutation Story: Dare's Fusion From Graphic Design - UI/UX - Visual Arts

 

On the Weekend you will most likely find him strolling along the streets of Gbagada, a fairly middle class suburb in the heart of Lagos State. Full gait, chin up, plaited dreads and his trademark sprawling moustache. In his full figure, the man surely exudes a mystic that rings “old soul”. Dare Oni is undeniably a stoic, a testament would be that you are barely into a conversation with him and he is already exploring broad perspectives within the context, sometimes even, he deliberately throws in rhetoric so as to further broaden the premise to the extreme polarities of dualistic reasoning.

Dare embodies the trappings of an art maestro, full scale in the eccentrics that typical artists manifest in their looks, dress code, attitude and work. But Dare wasn’t always the genius he is termed as today, peering through his work and study archives would leave one a trail of an almost endless thirst for knowledge, books, notes, markers and the likes populate his living interiors. It becomes easy to see that Dare has an inquisitive spirit and is a willing student of self realization and the adventure into the full capacity of his creative expression. So, he for sure became a polymath by exercising his mental faculties and stretching himself into possible states of being that echoes his self manifestation. The whole essence of this story is to ask, how did a young man move from being a basic graphic designer to becoming a Product design expert and consultant whence he is churning out world class abstract art. This transmutation is worthy of note as it harbours a strong tale of creative evolution. Lets dive in

Dare Oni by rote is a computer scientist, but this is a total contrast to his daily life and self expression. He discovered graphic design as a fort after graduating from high school, and as a norm at the time, computer literacy and knowledge was a necessity for a Nigerian youth of a non aristocratic demography. He discovered graphic design at the computer training shop where he had been assigned to learn desktop publishing at the time. In his words, “When the application (Corel Draw) opened, I just got a feeling of home, like i just knew that this was what I was meant to do”. This eureka moment of self revelation was integral for the alchemy of Dare’s evolution, as he felt peace and grounding in him sitting down with a computer application that draws shapes and colours. He obviously would have been excited at the opportunity to draw the shapes and colours that resided in his imagination. This singular event connotes much meaning, one — it was integral for dare’s experience in his self realization two — it clearly depicts the emotion that Africans should look out for in knowing their strengths, life purpose, personality and career. In his feeling, dare felt an emotion that was connoted by 3 markers: REST, EXCITEMENT and MEANING. We will look into these markers and elucidate on them whence drawing parallels with A.FREE.CA’s mantra which is mental and economic emancipation through creative evolution

REST: The relaxation that dare felt was one in which his most authentic self was made manifest, in religious circles, this can also be likened to the Peace of GOD. In this rest lies the capacity of a person’s maximum power, where one naturally “feels” that everything is okay and everything will be okay. This REST is evidence of an inner dialogue that comes from the subconscious of a person’s mental symbiosis, it cannot be explained, it just is, and it tells the individual, “THIS IS WHO YOU ARE, THIS IS WHAT IT IS, THIS IS WHERE YOU SHOULD BE”. Finding this rest is of utmost necessity for Africans to be in tune in to their most empowered, authentic and creative self. This REST is testament of an individual’s true nature and is determinant of their flair and strength in personality

EXCITEMENT: This is a natural cursor of a person’s Joy state. A person is of course excited when they are enjoying themselves. The excitement that Dare felt was of course the opportunity that he had been given to enjoy himself: To sit at a computer desk with a software application that allowed him draw the colors and shapes residing in his imagination: ah finally, a canvas to pour out my creative desires. Excitement is a strong mood signal that can identify a person’s emotional polarity. And by engaging in activities that invite a person’s excitement one can start to figuratively analyse a person’s vocational strengths. This is to say that excitement can be a strong indicator of a person’s purpose, because, how does one maintain the consistency in doing something that they derive no sense of joy, purpose or conviction from. Excitement is a necessity in a person’s individualism, it is a needed recharge system for the continuation of healthy self expression

MEANING: To guess what would have been on dare’s mind while he was fiddling with the design application on his first day at the computer training institute. He would have been so excited about bringing his imaginary designs to life on the computer screen and maybe afterwards export this design(s) and show to his peers to know what they think about it. This feedback would have been very important to dare as a needed reinforcement to know whether to justifiably pursue this newfound passion or ponder over it as wishful thinking. But still, its a cosmic given, that if the emotions of rest and excitement are genuine then the manifestation would embody the essence of resonance, whence to say that beauty is naturally exude in an expression of authentic flow. So then, we safely assume that dare showed his designs to his peer, family or other acquaintances and the feedback was positive, How would dare feel? Of course like how every sane human would feel.. “EMPOWERED”… that he is able to mean something, a reason for conviction that he could use his designs to communicate something to creation, in the flux of vibration with other souls. This type of feeling is needed in humans, as a grounding to keep the enthusiasm of living continually replenished. In order to find ultimate avenues of self expression, Africans need to look for this resonance, defined by the joy they feel in doing something and that joy is resonated in other individuals who are in direct perception of what is done. This leads to an infinite cycle of expression and reinforcement. A strong sense of meaning is born within the individual and this meaning provides grounding for the individual’s metabolism and evolution

Now we go back to the essence of this article, Dare’s transmutation…

Yes we know.. he is talented, but how was he able to move from being a skilled graphic designer to becoming a UI UX Design consultant and then a visual artist exuding abstract and philosophical forms in his work and all these happened within the time frame of a decade. One simple answer, Transmutation. Dare was able to fuse his natural flair for shapes and colors into a form that found expression through several related career paths. This fusion obviously had to undergo a process before it came to fruition, and this process could only have happened over a time horizon with the obvious application of certain absolutes that are necessary requisites for the transmutation to have taken place.

These absolutes are in the nature of mental attributes that form the base of Dare’s psyche. It is in the documentation of these mental attributes that aided Dare’s process do we fulfill the purpose of A.FREE.CA which is to highlight the necessary virtues and mental configuration that is needed for Africans to identify the divine creative spark within and like dray find a way to transmute this divine spark into a form that affords them multiple aspects of creative expression (mental emancipation and self power realization) and diverse value offerings (economic liberation). Dare as an example enjoys the reward of his transmutation: he is enlightened and self aware as a result of being widely read and has multiple sources of income due to the diversity in his skill portfolio. In order for his transmutation to have taken place, Dare had to desire it, be flexible in assimilating knowledge and expressing himself, ready to explore diverse perspectives and had to be vulnerable enough accept the truth of whether he was doing it right or not and also not be ashamed of being perceived as delusional or making a mistake. These mental attributes are what we would talk about as they are the main highlight of this article, they constitute the pillars of Dare’s transmutational journey. So we begin

DESIRE

In order for transmutation to take place, there has to first exist the desire to expand — — one’s consciousness. To seek and search for a new plethora of expression. This desire stems from the innate nudge to become more.. to be better at what one is doing, in an emphatic sense better at being human.

Desire is the first rung of the ladder of evolution, for how one become better or more if they don’t nurture the innate nudge to see what’s more to be seen, to peruse through what is available. Desire exists at the core of why we wake up every morning and pursue the day to see what is in store, even though this desire is translated differently among people according to psychological variation yet, it is still the core ingredient in the soup of alchemy for individuals who seek to broaden the horizon of their individualism and creative expression.

Referencing Dare, as a young budding graphic designer, he would sure have been asking himself, how can I find more career outlets to manifest my flair for shapes and colours?.. In this singular antecedent of thirst comes the inquisition into career endeavours and avenue for growth into the new desired form..(which of course is reminiscent of the source form for which the seed of transmutation springs from)

This desire stems from the innate nudge to become more.. to be better at what one is doing, in an emphatic sense better at being human

FLEXIBILITY

The attribute of flexibility is the readiness and openness of spirit to make oneself comfortable enough to try out new things and activities without any fear. Of course flexibility can only exist if it stands on the base of desire which we have discussed in the aforementioned paragraph. A person can only choose to be flexible when they have “desired” to plunge themselves into the activity that requires the need for flexibility. Flexibility takes the open mind into plateaus that a rigid one wouldn’t perceive as existent, and it is by flexibility that creatives hone their eccentrics whence their unique artistic expression resonant with their individualism.

For Africans, a constricting mindset is prevalent within the continent as a result of colonial conditioning and imposed translations, even still not forgetting the gully of economic limitations prevalent within the continent. This effect has created a “financial safety first” mindset that makes many Africans find a singular working approach that serves them and stick with it without caring about other possible iterations of the “one thing”.

This leads to a hampering of authentic self expression and genuine individualism. For transition to higher perspectives of thought process and mental synthesis, there has to be a readiness and openness of spirit to try to do the things we do in newer ways without any fear whatsoever and it is only in this adventure that newer forms of expression are discovered.

Transmutation obviously needs flexibility. Dare would have remained a good graphic designer if he had chosen to play the “financial safety first” card if he wasn’t open to exploring a novel career path that was resonant with his flair for drawing shapes and colours.

A person can only choose to be flexible when they have “desired” to plunge themselves into the activity that requires the need for flexibility. Flexibility takes the open mind into plateaus that a rigid one wouldn’t perceive as existent, and it is by flexibility that creatives hone their eccentrics whence their unique artistic expression resonant with their individualism.

VULNERABILITY

A popular quote is “A person cannot learn what they think they already Know”. Last on the list of virtues needed for transmutation is vulnerability. The state of “egoless-ness” where one is not embarrassed at making mistakes in trying new things and is not ashamed of “appearing stupid as a learner”. This virtue is naturally prevalent in children, but diminishes in many people when they grow older as a result of the personality being formed and an indoctrination into the capitalist society we find ourselves: every one’s reputation is on the line and no one wants to look like the loser.

On the flip side, vulnerability doesn’t necessarily translate to weakness, at least in the provision of learning something new or seeking out new avenues of self expression. From this angle, vulnerability is actually a virtue, because vulnerability invites the requisite brokenness that is necessary for the assimilation of knowledge. In dare’s transmutational process, he must have been vulnerable enough to not be embarrassed at himself about the outcome of his creations if they were valid enough or not, at some point even, maybe he doubted his consciousness if he was toeing the right path. But in the resilience of his continuous trials was the vulnerability he possessed in knowing that he needed to experiment more before he could manifest the desired mastery in his current creative exploration

Transmutation is at the base of everything. As can be seen in growth. In physics terms it is the conversion of one energy form into another, so yes transmutation is life. A popular physics quote says” Energy can neither be created or destroyed but can be converted from one form to the other. From this we can see the purpose of life itself, the foundation of the continuity that we all enjoy, the joy that in the uncertainty of what is to become. This limitlessness and awareness of infinite possibilities is what gives life its beauty.

Dare’s transmutation is one that is worthy of note, because it is an inspiration to aspiring African creatives to explore multiple manifestations of their creative flair. This helps with expanding their individualism and whence availing more knowledge of self (self realization and multiple streams of creative expression which in turn leads to more income and economic diversity for the African creative.

Dare’s creative alchemy is a testament of the emancipation and economic liberation that Africans can find the same by identifying, nurturing and harnessing their creative exponent.