Typical Biography reads:

Born in 1993, to the family of Segun Adeku, a neo-traditional Osun Osogbo artist in Nigeria, blah. In short, everything started with my artist dad, as similarly seen in Picasso's and Alberto Giacometti's stories.

My dad, Segun Adeku, is a world-class artist who retreated into his own world as the postal age disappeared amid the internet's hostile takeover, but not his art. His loyalty has been to his first true love, etching and painting, since 1972. He has travelled the world and returned home (Nigeria) to his studio. He has never had a studio assistant but only secretaries. He believes he has to do everything himself, his son disagrees. He also didn't like putting his work on the internet. He believes the internet is full of copycats waiting, anticipating his upload. Well, not 1 of his works has been copied ever (that I know of), the technique is far from simple, nor is his custom work process. I just think my dad is paranoid.

Judging whether that's a good thing is subjective, considering the consistency of his works. Practising one technique for 55 years affords the privilege of genius mastery. I was surprised whenn I googled my dad and found several mentions of him. Art blogs, auction sites, Pinterest, journals. They had his name and his old works, very old works. Yet they said something intriguing about him. Something I haven't read. Wheeew, Dad is famous, maybe decades ago.

As a child, I always saw my dad as a hero; I even stole photos of him with foreign friends on snow sledges to school to impress my friends. I couldn't want anything more than to be an artist. It felt like being an astronaut on Apollo's moon landing to me. I was my father's apprentice since the tender age of 7. At 14, I went under the tutelage of Kola Olayinka, a renowned cathedral sculptor who gained notoriety in Germany before returning to Ile-Ife; I was introduced to 3D art. It was a dream come true to become a student at the Ife Art School. It was not as dazzling an experience as I had anticipated. Tons of almost-meaningless work hours and nights of vigorous studying.

Segun and I were not exactly on good terms during my university days. Prof. Sheba scolded me in year one about the quality of my work after seeing the Adeku in my name. It's almost like an unwritten rule to compete with excellence yet never appear similar. Segun always encourages finding oneself; although I like Dali, Monet, Fakeye, David Dale and Van Gogh, Segun is my favourite artist.  I had plans to exhibit with my father to prove I am "pro" now. That plan had been pending since I graduated art school in 2015. Being an illustrator drove me far from painting and upcycling & I found out how hard it is to be a hobbyist artist, consistently creating art in times like this. This realisation created a fond regard for my father's artistry; with age and experience, I became a better friend to my father. On meeting Dotun Popoola an accomplished hybrid metal sculptor, he exposed me to the magnificent works of the famous Japanese sculptor Sayaka Ganz, I bit the hook, line and sinker. I decided to fully focus on my art, I sold my laptop, quit freelance illustration and buried myself into research and sculpting experiments. In 2019, I founded my studio, XtetixUpcycle, with a business plan, a £300 grant, and a £5500 soft loan investment from 3 childhood friends.

Then came the pandemic a national quarantine, and in 2020 both father and son had to stay indoors and work together for six months. I loved loud music, while Segun always needed a large amount of silence to create anything, anything at all. Working together wasn't sustainable, but it started a fire. Orí L'Afínjú, my first breakthrough exhibition was born, the most celebrated upcycle art event in Lagos and an outstanding duo. That exhibition caught Kieran Murphy's attention, and he generously offered his platform; hence, I use merch as a unique canvas for my expressions. It has been quite an adventure since.