Patrick Chuka

Artist.

[Patrick Chuka @PatrickChuka_]

This is a bonus blog post. Do check it out if you want to gain awareness and clarity on your childhood experiences. I simply am a vessel used to bring this information to you. Your level of open mindedness and comprehension is all that stands between us.

https://t.co/NhNfvZLu6X

[Patrick Chuka @PatrickChuka_]

Explaining Nigerian weather to Americans is a full-time job

[VIDEO: Comedic skit reenacting the conversation, explaining Harmattan]

🔴 https://t.co/CjN9l0Jgny

[Patrick Chuka @PatrickChuka_]

"Does it snow in Nigeria?"

"No sir. But we have Harmattan."

"Hammer what?"

This conversation from my first week in America lives rent-free in my head. The cultural translation glitch is eternal.

[Patrick Chuka @PatrickChuka_]

Fun fact: you can be invisible AND hungry at the same time.

Undocumented. Unseen. Unheard.

And in that silence, I found my voice.

[Patrick Chuka @PatrickChuka_]

Fun fact: you can be invisible AND hungry at the same time.

Undocumented. Unseen. Unheard.

And in that silence, I found my voice.

[Patrick Chuka @PatrickChuka_]

I was 16 when I became invisible.

Undocumented. Unseen. Unheard.

And in that silence, I found my voice.

🔴 https://t.co/CjN9l0Jgny

[Patrick Chuka @PatrickChuka_]

being undocumented is just being told you don't exist by people who can't pronounce your name correctly. anyway buy my book about it

[Patrick Chuka @PatrickChuka_]

For years, I existed in the margins. Undocumented. Unseen. Surviving in the spaces between systems.

The world told me I wasn't supposed to be here. So I made art that proved I was.

This is that art: https://t.co/CjN9l0Jgny

[Patrick Chuka @PatrickChuka_]

For years, I didn't exist on paper.

Undocumented. Invisible. A ghost in a country full of people who could see right through me.

But ghosts can still create. And this book is proof that invisible hands can make visible things.

Link in bio 🔴

[Patrick Chuka @PatrickChuka_]

When you're undocumented, invisible becomes your whole personality. But also your superpower. Let me explain.

[VIDEO: Talking head, vulnerable, how art became the outlet]

🔴 https://t.co/CjN9l0Jgny

[Patrick Chuka @PatrickChuka_]

I was 16 when I became invisible.

Undocumented. Unseen. Unheard.

And in that silence, I found my voice. It sounded like ballpoint pen on paper.

🔴 The book is live. https://t.co/CjN9l0Jgny

[Patrick Chuka @PatrickChuka_]

choosing freedom at 16 is just choosing to be scared in a place where nobody knows your name. 10/10 would recommend (with caveats) though. 10/10 forced character development. 0 stars for the experience, 5 stars for the results.

[Patrick Chuka @PatrickChuka_]

Freedom tip: it feels exactly like falling. Nobody mentions this.

[Patrick Chuka @PatrickChuka_]

Nobody tells you that freedom feels like falling.

🔴 The Scapegoat That Grew Wings
https://t.co/CjN9l0Jgny

[Patrick Chuka @PatrickChuka_]

At 16, I chose freedom. What nobody told me is that freedom feels like falling.

For years, I wasn't sure if I was ascending or crashing. The art was my way of finding out.

Read the full story: https://t.co/6sOtUCL5QV

[Patrick Chuka @PatrickChuka_]

I thought leaving Lagos would feel like flying.

It felt like drowning. Slowly. In the cold.

🔴 The Scapegoat That Grew Wings — https://t.co/CjN9l0Jgny

[Patrick Chuka @PatrickChuka_]

Freedom feels like falling.

When I chose to stay in America, I thought I was flying. Turns out I was just... falling with style.

This drawing is from the year I was still falling. Before the wings.

Full piece in the book: link in bio 🔴

[Patrick Chuka @PatrickChuka_]

The difference between flying and falling is just whether you've figured out the wings yet

[VIDEO: Contemplative, slow shots of drawing, voiceover about freedom]

🔴 https://t.co/CjN9l0Jgny

[Patrick Chuka @PatrickChuka_]

Nobody tells you that freedom feels like falling.

At 16 I chose exile. At 17 I was still falling. At 25 I'm still not sure I've landed.

But I grew wings somewhere in there. The book is evidence.

🔴 https://t.co/CjN9l0Jgny

[Patrick Chuka @PatrickChuka_]

Lagos didn't prepare me for weather that hurts your face, I cried.

Not because it was beautiful (it was).

Because I realized how far I was from everything I knew.

[Patrick Chuka @PatrickChuka_]

Lagos didn't prepare me for weather that hurts your face, I cried.

Not because it was beautiful (it was).

Because I realized how far I was from everything I knew.