Nigerian born artist, Buchi Upjohn Aghaji dips his brush into vastly different hues when creating his works. He expresses his art through a variety of media including oil, watercolor and acrylic on cold-pressed paper, canvas, burlap, wood and pottery. The result is a refreshing change from the contemporary trend in paintings. Aghaji says he was always interested in painting, his university studies steered him into the advertising field where he
worked for a year in Nigeria. It wasn’t until he moved to England that he realized he could pursue his painting full time.

His work takes a semi-abstract quality yet possesses a vibrancy that makes one stop and take notice of the painting’s rhythm.  He uses the traditional "Uli" motifs found in his tribe, the Igbos of Nigeria. Uli is the art of body decorations, consisting of lines and patterns that convey such admirable qualities as the strength, fertility, humility and compassion of the individuals they adorn. He says Uli motifs help to remind
everyone that these inner qualities are what we must seek to cultivate.