Be Here Now Mixed Media Painting

This mixed media painting invites mindfulness, urging viewers to embrace presence, release regrets, and cherish life’s unfolding moments

Artwork Description

about this mixed media painting

"Be Here Now" is a contemplative mixed media painting that emphasizes the profound value of presence in everyday life. It reminds us that the best way to honor the future is by nurturing the present with intention.

The work suggests that each moment offers opportunities for connection, reflection, and gratitude toward families, friends, and even strangers. Colors and forms echo life’s fleeting beauty, urging viewers to pause, breathe, and fully embrace the here and now. Rather than dwelling on what has passed, the composition encourages acceptance of yesterday as a closed and distant chapter.

It also challenges the anxious pull of tomorrow, a horizon that may never arrive in the ways we expect. Instead, the artwork highlights the transformative power of stillness, peace, and shared love in the current unfolding moment. Every brushstroke serves as a gentle reminder to savor experiences that are often overlooked in our hurried routines.

The piece conveys harmony through balance, revealing how present awareness can dissolve conflict and cultivate inner and outer peace. Viewers are invited to release regrets, quiet fears, and step into a liberated state of authentic being. 

In doing so, Be Here Now becomes more than an artwork, it becomes a philosophy for mindful living and conscious presence. Its message resonates universally, offering solace, clarity, and a call to rediscover joy within the present’s limitless possibilities.

about the artist

Samuel Kayode Toba, born in 1990, is a Nigerian conceptual artist working from Oyo State, Nigeria. He studied art at The Polytechnic Ibadan and earned a Higher National Diploma in Painting in 2018. Since graduation, he has steadily pursued his practice with deep fascination for Nigerian colors, textures, folklore, and cultural narratives.

Working primarily with acrylic and newsprint on textured canvas, he expresses personal curiosities through bold, animated strokes. His distinctive style fuses traditional Nigerian motifs with contemporary expressions, creating compositions that resonate on emotional and cultural levels.

Toba’s approach celebrates acrylics in pure hues and in carefully blended layers that highlight movement, depth, and spontaneity. His brushwork combines dynamic textures with layered impressions, emphasizing both control and freedom in two-dimensional spaces. He integrates contrasting and complementary colors with confidence, infusing each piece with energy and striking visual impact.

The recurring black human form anchors his exploration of identity, memory, spirituality, and interconnectedness. Through this motif, he pushes boundaries of perception and expands how African culture can be represented in contemporary art. His works promote heritage while celebrating beauty, urging audiences to reimagine art’s possibilities and cultural significance. 

Exhibited in galleries and art fairs locally and internationally, his work receives acclaim for evocative storytelling and powerful imagery. Toba continues to advance his vision, creating art that speaks globally while rooted deeply in African traditions and perspectives.

View his Dubai collection of available artworks here

copyright

This mixed media painting is one of a kind original therefore, all copyrights and reproduction rights are reserved by the artist.