Student art feature: Sam Onche `22

Colby’s student body is full of talented people. One such person is Sam Onche `22. Onche is an art major with a concentration in oil painting who hails from Nigeria. He first came to the U.S. in 2015, and arrived at Colby in 2018 as a member of the Men’s Basketball team. However, Onche is known on campus for his artistic abilities in and out of the classroom.

“As a kid, just watching Marvel movies and drawing comics is what got me interested in art,” Onche said. “After that I started exploring and look[ing] at other things and other artists.”

From his artistic explorations, Onche expressed that he draws inspiration from artists like Jean-Michel Basquiat, a New York native famed for his neo-expressionism and contemporary works. He also looks up to artists like Daniel Clark and artist Dave Rapoza. 

Onche tends to take most of his inspiration from his surroundings and interests.

“A lot of the stuff I make stems from my interests, the things I look at and topics in my environment,” Onche said. “Recently I also started going to the Colby Museum a lot. I go there to draw inspiration that can influence my works. It gives me a sense of direction on how I want to approach certain things and how to have meaning in my works.”

Despite his interest in art from such a young age, it was only two years ago that Onche decided to make art his future. However, this decision did result in Onche having to quit the basketball team as it was becoming difficult for him to manage the two.

“They clashed. I came to Colby being interested in both [basketball and art] but ultimately I chose to stick with art,” Onche explained. “Art is something that you have to spend time doing and I felt that it would pay off better and I enjoyed the process more, but for basketball, you also have to practice. So it was difficult for me to balance the two. It may be easier for others but for me especially since I want to make art my career, I decided to spend more time doing it.”

Onche even has a small business where he creates commissions for people who request them through Instagram and over email.

“It was tough at first,” Onche said. “I was shocked that people wanted me to make stuff for them. You are your worst critic when you make your own stuff so I decided to put my work out there and a few people started to reach out to me and now it has become my thing that I create for others.”

Apart from Onche’s commission business, he has even managed to get a job for the next semester as a cover artist for the magazine Outside Colby.

“Next fall I’m gonna be the cover artist for Outside Colby,” Onche said. “I have to make covers surrounding different topics such as politics, student life, issues in the word, campus and other more general topics.”

He is keeping himself even busier by working on a personal project called The Art of Black where he ties his African heritage into his art. 

“I’m working on a book called The Art of Black. It’s going to talk about my African culture and other African cultures through sketches and other drawings,” Onche explained. “All the art works are going to be centered about African culture and my experience growing up in Nigeria. It will also include notes about the culture in African in general, but mostly Nigeria.”

The future is also incredibly open to Onche, who has multiple places he believes his work can take him.

“I’m looking forward to working and I hope to create book covers for writers or even album covers for music artists,” Onche said. “I also hope to be able to create movie covers and posters. I majorly want to do freelance so I can work on a lot of different things.”

Onche also actively wants to share his love for art with others.

“Everybody should make art. It can be therapeutic and a fun experience.”

~ Tanvi Iyer `22