Artist Spotlight: Between the Frame and the Canvas with Bertha Onyekachi
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Some artists tell stories with words. Others tell them with colour. Bertha Onyekachi decided not to choose between the two.
As both a painter and an actress, her creative life moves between film sets and the quiet solitude of the studio. One day she’s stepping into someone else’s life through a character. The next, she’s standing before a blank canvas, trying to understand her own. The result is a body of work that feels deeply cinematic without ever trying to imitate film. Every painting carries the weight of a story, yet never insists on telling you exactly what that story is.
We caught up with Bertha to talk about storytelling, cinematography, growing up between two creative worlds, and why she thinks her art would taste like zobo.
On who she is:
“I’m a Nigerian painter, actress and filmmaker. I spend a lot of time observing people. I’m interested in the emotions people carry but don’t always talk about. Whether I’m acting or painting, I’m trying to understand people a little better. I’m interested in emotion, memory, family, migration, identity and the things people don’t say. I think that’s what connects everything I do. I just happen to use different mediums to tell those stories.”
On how painting and acting feed each other:
“Acting teaches me to pay attention to body language, silence and emotion. Painting gives me time to sit with those emotions without dialogue or movement. Some expressions or feelings that stay with me after playing a character may eventually find their way into a painting.”
On whether painting feels like an escape from set:
“I don’t really see them as separate because they’re both telling a story that would resonate with anyone who connects with it. Acting lets me experience someone else’s world. Painting helps me process my own thoughts about the world. One is outward, the other is inward, but they’re both conversations about being human. It takes a village to make a film because it’s collaboration driven. But my painting is all me, from thought to execution.”
On composing a canvas like a film scene:
“Yes, actually. I think about where I want your eyes to go first, where the tension sits, and what should remain hidden. It’s very similar to framing a shot. Not everything has to be explained to the viewer immediately. I like leaving room for people to discover things as they spend time with the work. Then again, sometimes you want to create freely without thinking and let the painting decide what it wants to communicate.”
On what beverage her art would be:
“I’d probably say zobo. I was tempted to say a cocktail of many sodas, but zobo feels more appropriate. At first it feels familiar and refreshing, but the more you drink it, the more layers you taste. Sometimes it’s sweet, sometimes there’s ginger, sometimes there’s a little spice. I hope my paintings work like that. They don’t tell you everything at first glance, but the more you sit with them, the more you uncover.”
On cinematography’s influence:
“I wouldn’t say there’s a specific film. I’m more interested in cinematography itself. Certain shots, light or a deep shadow can completely change how you feel about a character. That has influenced how I use contrast and mood in my paintings because I’m always thinking about what a viewer might feel or remember.”
On telling stories in a single frame:
“Film taught me that every detail matters. Sometimes a story isn’t told through dialogue but through a look, an object or an empty space. I try to paint that way too. I want people to feel like they’re walking into the middle of a story, imagining what came before and what comes next. I try to capture a frame that stays with you as a visual reference long after the credits roll.”
On studying at UNIBEN’s Ekenhuan campus:
“Funny enough, I always wanted to study Theatre Arts, but my parents thought it was a loafer’s course. So I studied Fine Art because it seemed like the lesser evil, and at the time I was already drawing and painting. Getting into Ekenhuan campus and seeing that it’s a small community where both worlds coexist made me see things in harmony. While I studied Fine and Applied Arts, I also took Theatre Arts electives like Arts of the Theatre. Stepping into the film industry expanded the way I think about storytelling. It made me less interested in simply painting people and more interested in painting what they’re carrying emotionally.”
On what she hopes viewers take away:
“I hope they pause for a moment. We live in a world where we’re always in a rush, but I want my work to slow people down. I want someone to stand before my painting for longer than they’re meant to and leave the room looking at other people more carefully and with empathy. If a face I paint in my Lagos studio makes a stranger recognise themselves or their emotions, then I’ve won.”
On creative block:
“Sometimes acting helps because it gets me out of my own head and reminds me to breathe. But I’ve also learned not to panic when I’m stuck. Creative block usually means I’ve been trying to force something. So I step away, observe people, watch films, read, or simply live a little. Eventually the work starts speaking again.”
On the atmosphere she hopes her art brings to a home:
“I hope it brings curiosity and quiet conversation. I don’t want someone to walk past it without thinking. I hope it keeps revealing something new every time they look at it. If it makes people stop, ask questions or even remember something about themselves, then I’m happy.”
What stayed with us most after speaking with Bertha wasn’t that she works across painting, acting and filmmaking. It was how naturally those worlds belong together. Whether she’s framing a scene for the screen or composing a canvas in the studio, her focus always returns to the same place: the quiet emotions that shape who we are.
There’s a patience to her work that feels increasingly rare. Rather than asking for immediate attention, her paintings invite you to stay a little longer, notice a little more, and perhaps leave seeing both the artwork and yourself differently.