ABSTRACT
This research explores the heart-Shaped yam foliage in painting. This study is based on the fact that several contemporary artists explore form in painting. Such forms include genre scenes, folklores, landscapes, portraits and still life with little or no attention towards experimenting in painting using Heart-Shaped Yam foliage. It is therefore the desire of the researcher to experiment with foliage that could create aesthetic awareness among the contemporary artist. The aim is to create forms in painting from the heart -shaped yam foliage; to explore the aesthetics quality of yam foliage in painting; to create paintings using the heart -shaped yam foliage beyond its natural form and to create source of inspiration in modern Nigerian art. Three stages of heart-shaped yam foliage were explored in the research. The three stages include: the natural stage, the semi abstract stage and the abstract stage. The three stages arouse a visibility of lines, shapes, form and colours that could create a perception of realism to abstraction. It therefore, gives an insight of how the elements (line, shape, form and colour) that constitute foliage can be used to create aesthetics in painting. It is on this note that further research on this topic can be carried out because the study is limited to the exploration of the heart- shaped yam foliage in painting. Therefore, more researches on foliage should be taken into consideration to create new forms that will be visually inclined and having meanings that could challenge the 21st century in the history of painting.