From Lagos to the World: Capturing Style, Culture, and Vision through Film, Exclusive Art, and Limited Edition Prints. 18 Questions with Mide King

1. Tell us about your journey as an artist—how did it all begin for you? Art has been a part of my life from day one—there’s never been a moment when I wasn’t creating in some form, whether through drawing, writing, music, or design. It was always there. Growing up around aesthetically conscious people only deepened my natural inclination toward creativity. Curiosity has been the most crucial starting point of all. I generally have an incredible appetite for life and I typically follow my curiosities and natural leanings wherever they lead.

2. What inspires your art the most? Several things may spark a thought process. It could be a conversation, a book I read, a lyric of a song or a certain quality of light sculpting a face. It could also be a scene from a film. I draw inspiration from everywhere. One of the most pertinent and consistent inspirations for my art however has been the celebration of the strength and beauty of women.

3. Are there particular themes or stories you like to explore? I have been exploring themes of strength, beauty, and connection throughout my practice, and how we strive for self-expression and actualisation. The interplay between identity and attire is also a constant theme running through my work.

4. Name two of your biggest artistic influences or role models? This is a hard one as there are several. And my answer may change if you were to ask me this a year from now, but, Peter Lindbergh springs instantly to mind. His minimal, neo-realist photographs are forever in a class of their own in a world of more, more, more. Currently, I've been studying David Hockney's work and am quite inspired by how he sees the act of seeing itself.

MIDE KING

5. What draws you to them or their catalogue of work? Already addressed in the previous response.

6. What medium or style do you prefer to work with, and why? Each medium has its unique strengths so to box one's self up into just one has never appealed to me. I'd rather move among several - photography, collage, design, film. Film for example is most synonymous with how humans naturally experience life - in motion, transiently. Freezing life into a fraction of a second, in photography, is also such a powerful way of beholding it - somehow connected to our need for permanence, our need to live forever. What collage does is it sees the finished image as merely a starting point, a point of departure. It repurposes ready-made images for a new life, a new narrative. Lastly, design, product design, takes ready-mades as well, whether organic or synthetic, and brings them into yet again another cohesive and personal whole, with a three-dimensional presence; I find that also quite powerful.

7. Can you walk us through your creative process? How do you go from an idea to a finished piece? In my collage work, for example, the photograph is raw material. I take a picture of a protagonist whom I then isolate and bring into a new graphical dimension where a narrative is built around them. The narratives serve my themes of strength, beauty, and connection. I painstakingly seek out other ready-made images that would lend my collage both aesthetic and psychological value. I damn near throw everything and the kitchen sink in. Then gradually I begin the process of subtraction, followed by meticulous iteration until something simple and strong emerges. This could take hours or it could take weeks but when it's there, you know it's there. 

8. What has been the most rewarding piece of art you’ve created so far, and why is it special to you? It would be the romantic relationship I built with a certain someone. It was the relationship to dwarf all others before and after it. 

9. How do you handle creative blocks or moments when inspiration is hard to find? I never suffer creative block because I'm continually feeding my mind positive, constructive, stimulating information. There's a great quote from a book on the photographer Peter Beard I read years ago, it says: "To an omnivore, nothing is nothing." That means for someone with such a large appetite for life, I cannot not be well-fed with stimulating inspiration and ideas. To that, I am never bored. My mind is constantly working.

10. As an emerging artist, what has been the biggest challenge you’ve faced in getting your work out there? I believe we live in the best time ever as artists. I believe my greatest challenge has been me, being in my own way, my perfectionism, etc. I had also underestimated the power of community and marketing. That's precisely what Edison had over Tesla even though Tesla was a superior inventor. One needs to be the loudest voice about one's own work; one needs to be a badass evangelist.

11. What’s your take on certain groups that struggle to view photography as a form of fine art? This has been a debate since the very dawn of photography. The folks who don't consider photography an art form are clearly not omnivores. They probably only eat grass lol. While they debate what is and isn't art, folks are suspending sharks in formaldehyde and pushing the envelope. I mean how many Duchamp urinals do you need to convince you? I typically pay them no mind.

12. Where do you see your art evolving in the next few years? Are there any specific goals you’re working toward? I'm exploring the boundaries of photography, pushing its vocabulary by merging it with other media like installation and film. My goal is to deconstruct and reinvent the medium—breaking it apart and reimagining it in bold, new ways of seeing and experiencing. The possibilities are endless, and that’s what excites me most.

13. What advice would you give to other aspiring artists who are just starting out? Look, feel, work, study, work, feel, look, look, feel, feel, feel, study, study, study, work, work, work, work, work, work, work, work, work, market, market, market, market, market, market, market. In that order lol.

14. How do you balance creativity with the business side of being an artist? There's a great quote by Oscar Wilde - When bankers get together for dinner, they talk about art. When artists get together, they talk about money. Most of the biographies I've read in the last five years have been about businessmen and I learn a lot from artists who are business savvy as well. It's a side of operation that most artists shy away from but I'm pretty intrigued by it and continue to improve my business skills.

15. Is there a particular message or feeling you hope people take away from your work? I'd like people to feel inspired, celebrated, understood, and nourished. There's a certain satisfaction we get when we're experiencing something that's been done superbly. You feel the commitment, the dedication to craft. You can sense it and it's infectious. 

16. How do you stay motivated to keep creating, especially when faced with challenges or setbacks? I remember why I do what I do. I have to keep that in front of me at all times. I also stay grateful for what I have in my life, starting every day with gratitude, knowing that I am blessed abundantly and powerful beyond measure, conscious that being alive as a human in the here and now in all our glory and splendour, warts and all, is probably the greatest gift ever and determined to do right by that very gift, as well as all the gifts in me. No obstacle can stand in the way of that consciousness.

17. What projects or exhibitions are you currently working on or planning for the future? I'm currently working on an exhibition with a curator dedicated to fashion and I'm quite excited about it. I’m thrilled to have signed a deal with FRESHLEMONWATER to showcase and sell my work online, bringing my art to a wider audience.

18. And final question, what would you prefer hot water with a slice of lemon or cold water? Hot water, thank you very much! That would make it all come alive!

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