The world of an unusual painter

Sarah Sanni

Lagos-based artist who specialises in painting on walls, Sarah Sanni, speaks with AKEEM LASISI on the journey so far

Sarah Sanni is into a peculiar art. Although she is a painter, she is not one of those you see on road sides or even regularly in a gallery exhibiting their paintings. Rather, the Lagos-based artist paints on walls of her clients.

This is her first love that made her leave a fine job in an oil company, after she had, at various times, worked in the banking and IT sectors. Some may see this as a strange decision, but it is logical to Sanni, a native of Ibadan, Oyo State, who has, however, lived in different parts of the country – including the North, where she first got to know about body and wall painting.

Indeed, she decided to study Computer Science at the University of Benin, only because her score in the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination did not qualify her to study Architecture.

Sanni says, “Upon graduating, I thought of pursuing drawing and painting in relation to computer graphic design. So, I stayed back in Benin where I met another fine artist, Manny, who taught and exposed me to advanced techniques of wall painting and designs. I worked with him for six months before moving back to Lagos finally in 2010.”

She notes that the few years she has put into the trade have not all been a bed of roses, but her dreams are positively unfolding. She has got to a point where she has been travelling to as far as some northern states to decorate walls for clients, just as she is considering establishing a school to train new talents.

Sanni says, “Well, so far, there’s been a lot of ups and downs. The ups are the fact that I love what I do. It’s new, its different and I’m always excited when I’m working and I’m very accepted as a female. People are amazed and it gives me the urge to push further. The other side is the fact that it’s a profession/a career/a business/ and just like every other new business, I have to work twice as hard. I’m still trying to break into the market and create more awareness.

“The business of art is more difficult than producing an artwork itself, because I’m running a sole proprietorship for now. I have to handle both ends – I have to be as business-oriented as much as I’m artistic. The financial and legal terms are things I read and learn a lot about these days. I’ve also had to deal with difficult clients. But in all, travelling to Kebbi State and other northern and eastern parts of Nigeria to do some painting jobs counts as a success for me. It shows my kind of job is getting widely known.”

As a child, Sanni known for her Cera Cerni brand, was always touched by the art of laali – traditional tattoo – she used to see on women’s bodies in the North. Also when she grew up, she is attracted to beautiful things, from which she now gets a lot of inspiration.

The artist, who says there is a plan to do a commissioned work for the Nigerian Railway Corporation, explains, “I love beautiful things. I just always want to make a wall look more attractive, more complex, more mystical, and more marvelling than when it is just plain.”

She had been reluctant to diversify into other art media, but what she calls ‘public opinion’ is luring her into drawing on canvas and wood too. And now that the lull and anxieties caused by the elections have gone down, she will be drawing cartoons for some schools, just as she has a date with a popular entertainment arena on VI, Lagos.

Does Sanni believe that visual arts are getting adequate rewards? And how is she looking at the future?

She says, “I haven’t been too long in arts commercially. Up until about a year ago, I’d normally just draw on paper and discard. I cannot say much about the rewards in general terms but personally, I’d say it’s quite rewarding. People who genuinely love arts know their worth.

“There is a lot more I still believe I am capable of doing with regard to my paintings and designs. For instance, I plan to register with a professional arts institute where my skills can be honed and harnessed, such that I would be able to produce world-class art designs. In the nearest future, I hope that all the walls in Nigeria would be awash with my paintings and designs.”