by Ifeoluwa Olutayo
Ember Sough, known professionally as badoats, is an artist, illustrator and designer working out of Lagos, Nigeria.
Drawing from a diverse well of inspirations–in which a love of Japanese media shines through–his work could be described as a brilliant blend of film, music and pop culture, all distilled into a dense representation of his inner world, where uniqueness finds expression in the faces, poses and landscapes we get to witness as a willing audience.
His work spans diverse worlds, with collaborations across music, design, web3 and fashion (notably with fashion brands like 919DNR, The Auracles and 1Xblue).
His art has been shown across the world, at exhibitions like the +234 Art fair in Lagos, Nigeria, IHAMnft in Paris, Quantum nft in the US, NFTUK, in London, the HUG X IBIZATOKEN show in Ibiza, Spain and the art fair, Art Basel in Miami, USA. His art has also been featured in PAGEMAG magazine in Hamburg Germany, and as part of NYCNFT at Times Square in New York.
I sat in conversation with the incredibly accomplished artist, badoats, to talk about life, creating worlds, strong mindsets, and the future.
Could you, speak about the spaces that drive you to create?
I remember, growing up, I was always drawing and making comic books with my brother or talking about what new anime we just watched and sketching out a bunch of characters with my cousins. So, I quickly associated creativity with the type of people around me.
No matter where I am, as long as I’m surrounded by the right people with similar mindsets, creativity comes as easy as breathing.
What are your artistic inspirations, the places that inform what we see when we get a badoats painting?
I draw a lot of inspiration from several places and I hope to get inspired by so much more. I really love the interests of fashion, surrealism, and design, as well as how they feel and look in art. The obvious source of inspiration is Japanese media, which I’ve gotten really fond of because of how much of their culture is translated into it. I also love putting movie references in my work and pieces of pop culture.
Black culture and music also make a big impact in my work, especially after seeing shows like Afro Samurai and the Boondocks that perfectly blend a lot of genres and concepts and still make it work uniquely.
I know you already mentioned a deep love and a well of inspiration for you is found in Japanese media and also in Black culture. Could you mention a few artists and artistes that you look up to, given that you’ve mentioned a few shows?
The GOAT, obviously Hirohiko Araki, the mind behind “Jojo’s Bizarre Adventures”, then Sui Ishida of “Tokyo Ghoul”, the late Akira Toriyama, and Takeshi Obata are there too. There are so many; I don’t know how to fit them all.
I love music from Japanese bands too; The pillows, King Gnu, Nico Touches the Walls, and Bump of Chicken (weird ass names but really good music). Then there are the people I can play over the aux like Earl Sweatshirt, Nujabes, Kaytranada, Smino, Westside Gunn, JID, Vince Staples and Baby Keem.
What does the medium offer you that others don’t really do for you?
Digital art gave me something that no other medium did, freedom. I grew up doing A LOT of drawings in black and white just because I didn’t have access to as many colours as I wanted. When I was old enough to get some for myself it wasn’t just enough but on my screen, I could carry the entire palette I wanted in my hands with the chance to do whatever I wanted and explore any style I wished to. That’s as much freedom as I can really ask for.
I love that, the freedom like you mentioned. I love your work and because of how it blends so many inspirations together, it’s found a home and acclaim outside of Nigeria. I know you’ve shown here too, with your work showing at March’s Ecobank-sponsored Soto Gallery-helmed Art fair. How was the experience, showing here at home?
It felt really cool to be a part of an exhibition I could see in person. I’ve never seen my works blown up to that size or people’s real-time reaction to seeing my art before so it was really surreal. I hope I can do a lot of that soon and properly give people the experience that makes my art worth it.
Can you walk us through your process? What does an idea-to-finished painting look like for you?
I mean everything starts from an idea, whether it’s something I have seen and I want translated in a way I like or something I’d like to create to see if I could achieve it.
A lot of things can affect how I see or come up with certain concepts. It can be from conversations I’ve had, a song I just listened to, a type of insect I saw the other day or that anime I really enjoyed – I just love to keep my mind open to anything cuz everything is inspiring if you make it seem that way.
I mostly never just jump on an idea to put it down immediately; it’s a lot of fine-tuning that can take weeks or months, just adding or subtracting what I need until it makes sense in my head or it feels like something new and fresh from the other countless things I’ve done.
Just trying to make it as good as I can. Sometimes, I may keep it until I have reached a certain skill level to even achieve something like that. The rest is easy, from looking for a reference to the drawing part. My favourite part is the sketch and colour phase cuz I can be as free and as experimental as I like, it also takes the longest and for good reasons too. I think a part I find really boring is when I start line art (I really want it to end as quickly as possible).
Given the current outlook of the art world here in Nigeria, how do you see Digital Art evolving in the next couple of years?
Realistically, I see it growing more and more every day, but with the right push, it can be even better soon.
What are some of the challenges you’ve faced navigating working and creating here?
It’s definitely the lack of appreciation towards art(digital and pop art in particular) that always breeds this form of unspoken disrespect, especially in the art scene.
It makes showcasing work in the way it should be enjoyed especially difficult, and this attitude trickles down to how clients expect or demand work. While this is a general plague that affects the art scene here I don’t see it as much of a challenge because of the confidence I have in my work.
I have a strong mindset about who I can work with and those I can’t, but a space to properly celebrate digital art as a growing and promising art from here would go a long way. Maybe then, more people will come to appreciate it for the marvel it really is.
When audiences walk away from a viewing of your work, what do you hope they take away from it?
For aspiring artists, I hope they get inspired to keep/start drawing the way others have inspired me and for others, I hope they get a sense of what I like because my art is primarily a showcase of the things I like to enjoy all blended into one. If they can just see and resonate with some of their interests in my work, then that is enough for me.
Are there any other mediums outside of digital art you’d like to explore as time goes on?
Photography for sure. There’s a lot I see every day and I wish I could just capture in an artistic way.
In the (recent) past you’ve worked with musicians, notably Tochi Bedford, to create experiences around the listening experience, whether it be covers or art direction. Is that a space you view as different from your pursuits in art or do you view it as a marriage of points of interest, with looking to work in music, maybe one day?
It’s definitely something I love working on. I really love music and it inspires a lot of the pieces I make. Being able to make a visual that fits the melody I listen to is something I enjoy and I wish I could do more of it (it is quite stressful, especially thinking of how it’s going to be perceived by others since music is a really big form of art but it’s a challenge I like to face and most times it works out well).
Related: Toch Bedford, Evoking the Atypical
What’s the most unusual place you’ve gotten inspiration from for a painting?
I’ve said before that anything can be a source of inspiration if you let it but one I find really interesting and maybe “unusual” is architecture and furniture design and I hope I can make something along that space one day.
What are some misconceptions about digital art that you feel are affecting how it’s perceived here in Nigeria?
How quickly it can be made and how easy it is.
Rendering and weaving all of these cultures in a new medium could be seen as a reinvention of expression, giving them new life. Is that something you’re conscious of as you work?
Yes! It’s something I try to achieve with almost every piece I’ve ever made. I try to see how many concepts and influences I can squeeze into a piece that can be recognized from whatever angle you look at it (I still want to put more though as I’m constantly trying to influence myself with as much culture as I can).
I know that you also work in fashion, alongside Timi Arokoyu to create quality graphic tees, clothes, designs and worlds for Dummies & Rags. How is it working with someone in that space? And what are usually the considerations when it comes to making a new fashion statement with a drop?
Timi and I are basically cosmic mind twins and to be honest I wouldn’t have gotten this far without him so without a doubt he’s the easiest person I have ever worked with (and will continue working with). As for what we think before making a drop it’s basically a mix of what we’d like to wear and in what way we’d like it to be presented and it tends to go more in the artistic route because that’s how best we can express ourselves. We’re just trying to put people on what we’d like to see more and those that get it are those with similar sense in idea and inspiration like us.
I’d also like to ask how collaborations in art sound to you. Do they work or not? A personal take, of course, not the view of the industry.
Personally, I see collabs not just as a merge of art styles but of interests and shared experiences. I can’t collaborate with someone I don’t know on a personal level. It’s not just thinking if our art styles are compatible enough, it’s how I see you approach certain ideas or if our inspirations are alike. Maybe I overthink the whole thing sometimes.
One of my favourite paintings by you is “I’m prettier without you…” which is this technically incredible rendition of a beautiful woman putting the finishing touches with her lipstick. I wanted to ask, as it’s something I’ve seen a lot in your work, from “bad baby” to “call trips”. Where does this appreciation of the female form stem from?
I grew up surrounded by (and appreciating) a lot of women in my family, especially my mum and how she carries herself. I noticed and appreciated the artsy vibe and candour that come with being one. Later in my life I got to know so many cool women around me and heard and learned about their interests; it’s something that I can’t really understand from my side of the fence as a man but I see drawing some of the things I do as a way to peek over that fence(especially women’s fashion, I really love that).
Everything just comes from curiosity turned into a fascination for something I love but won’t really understand and I just try to show my appreciation towards it.
Any future plans you could let us in on?
I have some collabs with some really cool artists I appreciate coming soon! Then there’s the merch I’ve been stalling to make and I can finally say is coming out well. I’m making more physical paintings as well(I miss the smell of paint I guess), more 3d pieces soon and more art in general; everything I’m making now is worth looking forward to. I plan to have a solo show as well but that’s still for much later.
By way of an outro, what’s the holy grail of paintings for you?
John Singer Sargent’s Dr Pozzi at Home, Goya’s Witches sabbath and Saturn Devouring His Son, Las Meninas by Diego Velazquez, The Thirty-six Views of Mt Fuji by Hokusai and Ilya Repin’s Ivan the Terrible and his son are some of the paintings I think about often.
