Stitch Please

Crowned with Care: a chat with Uzoma Samuel Anyanwu

Episode Summary

Uzoma Samuel Anyanwu is a visual and fiber artist from a family of creatives. His mother is a fashion designer and his sisters are tailors. In this episode, he talks with Lisa about his creative process of working with fabric from all over the world, how it can teach us to live peacefully with each other, and how his photography techniques complement his painting projects.

Episode Notes

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Uzoma Samuel Anyanwu

Uzoma Samuel Anyanwu was born in 1981 and is a painter and photographer whose passion for photography compliments his studio painting practice. His inimitable approach to fabric collage paintings and the transformation of recycled materials into art distinguishes him as a strong emerging artist. He currently lives and works in Lagos State, Nigeria.

Lisa Woolfork

Lisa Woolfork is an associate professor of English specializing in African American literature and culture. Her teaching and research explore Black women writers, Black identity, trauma theory, and American slavery. She is the founder of Black Women Stitch, the sewing group where Black lives matter. She is also the host/producer of Stitch Please, a weekly audio podcast that centers on Black women, girls, and femmes in sewing. In the summer of 2017, she actively resisted the white supremacist marches in her community, Charlottesville, Virginia. The city became a symbol of lethal resurging white supremacist violence. She remains active in a variety of university and community initiatives, including the Community Engaged Scholars program. She believes in the power of creative liberation.

Insights from this episode:

What goes into his creative process
How to fight discrimination
Samuel’s creative background
Working with diverse fabric
What fabric teaches us about living harmoniously
Showcasing his work at Quiltcon
Lessons he learned working with people and preparing for Quiltcon

Quotes from the show:

“No one’s first quilt ends up at a juried quilt show, it’s not something that often happens, but it did happen in this case” —Lisa Woolfork in “Stitch Please”
“First, I do photography and then it compliments my painting and collage and fabric work. Most of my work comes from the compositions from my camera” —Uzoma Samuel Anyanwu in “Stitch Please”
“Anything racism and tribal discrimination is taught somehow (…) it’s something that parents should try their best to let their children be free of this kind of discrimination” —Uzoma Samuel Anyanwu in “Stitch Please”
“My coming into fabric art is a kind of genetic endowment from my mother. I can always say that because she has been a fashion designer all her life” —Uzoma Samuel Anyanwu in “Stitch Please”
“Having experience from photography, and drawing and painting, then coming into fabric is not a new medium to me. It’s just an extension of what I do with my camera” —Uzoma Samuel Anyanwu in “Stitch Please”
“I really work with large varieties of fabric, and this is important because I have been able to define globalization with my work, in terms of all these fabric coming from different places” —Uzoma Samuel Anyanwu in “Stitch Please”
“We can live in a world whereby whatever you practice, be in peace with everyone. This is what fabric has been able to do”—Uzoma Samuel Anyanwu in “Stitch Please”
“Fabric is that common item that connects all humans” —Uzoma Samuel Anyanwu in “Stitch Please”

Stay Connected:

Lisa Woolfork

Instagram: Lisa Woolfork

Twitter: Lisa Woolfork

Uzoma Samuel Anyanwu

Website: Samuel Uzoma - Biography | IMPART (impartfair.com)

Facebook: Uzoma Samuel Anyanwu

Instagram: uzo creative artz (@uzomasamuel_)

This episode was produced and managed by Podcast Laundry.