Oju ni imole ara: "The eye is the mirror of the soul," goes a popular Yoruba aphorism, which aptly exemplifies the significant position the eye occupies in Yoruba thought. The bard, the homeless, the beggar, and the streetwalker constitute the group often regarded as the dregs of any society, yet they remain the pathetic and poignant testimony of our insensitivity, and our level of development, the soul of our society, the reflection of our humanity, and the kaleidoscope mirror of our very existence, thus they are our eyes. I have consciously explored this metaphor in my art as a reflection of the unique and primal position this problem occupies in human affairs and as a way of drawing specific attention to their predicament.

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