Christy Anyanwu
Daniella Chukwuezi is a multi-disciplinary creative practitioner and researcher working across the mediums of design, photography, and moving image.
Chukwuezi has participated in various programmes and awards, such a Lambeth YLSC course on Entrepreneurialism, where she was awarded the prize for The Way With Words. She has also been awarded first place in a Shutterstock design competition.
The soft spoken lady, presently in Nigeria for a short vacation, showcased an array of Fela paintings at Nike Art Gallery. “The design for ‘Fela No Fear’ originally didn’t feature Fela’s face or his name,” she began. “I was a depiction of a Benin bronze. After visiting Nike and seeing a lot of Fela artworks, I swapped the bronze for his face. ‘Fela No Fear’ is a graphic representation of Black Power. The depiction of Fela is layered on top of a map of a big yellow sun and the Great Benin Walls, with Nsibidi symbols for Sun, Strength Black, Unity and, Odogwu/Hero placed in the corners of the piece, and on Fela’s face.
“These symbols, along with the map and Fela, tell a story of Nigerian excellence, a celebration of the creativity and talent often found in the country and in Black diasporas, despite troubling histories like the Transatlantic slavery and colonialism.”
Tripping memory lane on how her love for arts started, she said, “I started a small-scale independent magazine, called JIGGY, when I turned 17. I was studying physics, maths, chemistry and sociology A-Levels, and the magazine became an outlet and escape from all the hard work and pressure to do well.
Now 23 years old, Chukwuezi relieved her experience of Nigeria as a child, “I remember being a very smart and curious child (I still am, I think). I loved figuring out how things worked. I was very studious and was a few grades ahead of my age. I could understand and speak a little Igbo and Yoruba. I was six when we left for the UK, so I don’t remember much of my childhood here. I just know that education was a large feature of it.”
Currently, she is operating as a freelancer and delivering artworks for clients, including small businesses, artists, and musicians. She offers and delivers a range of services, such as logo designs and visual brandings, product packaging designs, album cover works, and social media content designs.
“I also produce tufted rugs on a commission basis like The Elephant Room in partnership with Treasure Tress – March 2021. However, the COVID-19 pandemic/lockdown was hard abroad with so many casualties and deaths recorded.”
Sharing her experience during the post-covid, she recalled, “During a month and a half long freelance project with The Elephant Room Agency, my team and I were tasked with creating a welcome-back event for brand Treasure Tress after they ceased events over the pandemic. “As the arts director of the group, I worked to deliver a cohesive, branded experience to our target audience of teenage girls. I curated the event as a cultural exchange to bring the girls together again after a year apart, naming it “Teens X-Change” and branding the event structure around the idea of cultural and social exchange. This included creating a logo and visual identity, writing copy for the treatment and the titles, creating content assets for social media and marketing, and, lastly, liaising with brand sponsors and speakers to make sure everyone was in-line with the overall strategy.”
Asked what she would like to see achieved in the Arts sector, she snapped, “More critically and wider representation. I find it hard to make work that doesn’t mean anything, or say anything important. I use arts and designs to think through identity, colonial histories and post-colonial experiences. There is intelligence and deep thinking in creativity, and I think arts should be held to high standards as the sciences, maths.”