I’m honored to welcome Austen (also known under his artist’s name Styn), a Great Master of realism, to the ARTssembly.

Even as I write these lines, I can still vividly remember how I felt when I discovered his work on Instagram; amazement mixed with awe. Amazement, because it was the first time I’d experienced such a level of realism and begun to realize the unimaginable feats an artist is capable of. Awe, because the power and energy that emanate from Styn’s art force my intimidation. To me, his pieces are literally worth a thousand words, loud and clear, if not millions.

So, when Styn replied to my email expressing his interest in the ARTssembly, I was ecstatic, but also a little intimidated, as I tried to define the value I could bring to an artist who already has over 45,000 followers on Instagram.

During my video encounter with this extraordinary artist, I realized that I was dealing with someone humble, insightful, passionate, and deeply human. In this age of the social media popularity race, Styn reminded me of what it means to remain authentic and connected to one’s true values, in the real world, just as his art exudes pure truth. Perhaps this is the key to his success in a virtual world filled with artifice.

As a child, Styn loved to draw, drawing inspiration from cartoons and comics. Around the age of 7, he realized that he had a certain artistic gift, which was reflected in the quality of his drawings. His parents encouraged him to develop his art by buying him art supplies, but at this stage, art was just a hobby for Styn and remained so throughout his adolescence.

In Nigeria (as in many other countries), being an artist is not seen as the most prestigious or lucrative profession. Styn was therefore influenced to study medicine.

One day, in his campus room, Styn discovered a new artistic universe when he saw his roommate draw a portrait with a level of realism that left him speechless; the shapes, the light and shadows, the proportions, the vivid expression, it was all there. For him, it was unprecedented. It’s in this roommate that Styn found the inspiration to take his art to the next level. He bought a sketchbook and some drawing materials and started practicing.

But then came COVID-19, confinement, and the death of a loved one, events that brought their share of emotional and mental challenges, but also had the effect of drawing Styn back to his art once and for all.

Indeed, in 2020-2021, Styn worked and refined his art unceasingly. He studied various techniques and old masters’ works, light and its behavior, and Nigerian literature. Each work took him hours that turned into days, weeks, and months. He built up his portfolio with the utmost discipline and started posting reality-defying works on Instagram. It wasn’t long before someone offered to buy one of his pieces. Then he was commissioned to produce several works in one go, marking the official start of his artistic career.

Today, Styn is a full-time artist. Through his realism, he essentially aims to captivate the mind, illustrating his struggles, hopes, and aspirations as a person and an artist, and, more specifically, his place in a Nigerian society progressively eroded by Western culture, its values, and ideals. I particularly loved the way he described the phenomenon of Nigerian youth wanting to leave Nigeria to find ‘greener pastures’ abroad only to find, once there, that they are just strangers in another man’s land. Eventually, they long to return to the ‘homeland’ they couldn’t stand in the first place (hence the name of his series Homeless).

In a broader sense, Styn aims to raise awareness of the emotional struggles and mental health issues we face individually and collectively as a society and a generation.

Thank you, Styn, for this very real and enriching conversation. I enjoyed every minute of it and I can’t wait to see what you have in store for us.

To purchase one or more of his stupendous works, contact him here: https://www.instagram.com/styn_theartist/?hl=en

Location: Lagos (Nigeria)