Scared JS1 boy, 2025

Seromo Okoro  

Sese is a Nigerian-born visual artist based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. He has been drawing and painting since childhood, developing an early interest in image-making through cartoons and observational sketches. Despite expectations to pursue a more traditional career, he remained committed to his artistic instincts.

His formative years in boarding school, marked by strict discipline and personal challenges, played a significant role in shaping his perspective. During this time, the encouragement of an art teacher introduced him to painting and expanded his understanding of visual expression. Although he later pursued architecture studies in both Nigeria and Canada, the loss of his father led him to fully commit to art as a lifelong practice.

Working primarily with oil, acrylic, and chalk, Sese creates paintings that draw from dreams, memory, imagination, migration, and lived experience. His work reflects on life, purpose, and the emotional weight carried within everyday moments, often blending personal narrative with symbolic imagery.

Sese has an active presence in Hamilton’s art community. He has exhibited at the Cotton Factory as part of The Space Between group show and participated in the City of Hamilton’s Black History Month launch event at the Hamilton Public Library in 2025. He also took part in a live painting event at the Art Gallery of Hamilton, where he was selected as the audience winner. He was notably the youngest and only Black artist invited to contribute to the James and York Boulevard public art installation.

In February 2026, Sese presented his solo exhibition All Seeing in Hamilton, further establishing his practice and expanding his visual language. He continues to develop new bodies of work, with a focus on creating emotionally resonant paintings that invite reflection and connection.