Action In Futility

This painting draws inspiration from the Yoruba proverb: “Ẹiyẹ tó fẹ́ fo, wọn sọ ko luu.”  This translates to mean, “A bird is ready to fly and you are throwing a stone at it.”

The proverb exposes the futility and poor judgment in resisting what is already in motion. In this work, the bird symbolises a person, idea, or moment that has reached its time to rise, move forward, or break free. The stone represents opposition, pointless, reactive, and too late. The act of throwing it becomes not just futile, but foolish. 

By using collage to depict the bird and the stone-thrower, I explore the tension between progress and resistance. The scene captures the moment of near-departure, just before the bird takes flight, yet already beyond control. The textures and tones reflect both movement and confrontation: the inevitability of change and the often misguided attempts to block it.

This piece is a reflection on human behaviour, how we sometimes resist what we cannot stop, challenge what we should embrace, and act too late against what is already becoming. It reminds us that when the moment has come, trying to stop it is not only useless,  it's senseless.