Arinze Stanley is an artistic genius whose work is beyond imitation.  What he creates, leaves one asking questions such as; is this a digital photograph or a drawing? How is it possible to create such remarkable drawings? Arinze pushes the boundaries of hyper-realistic art with his talent, and he is as close to a human camera forming images as we can get.

Arinze's early interest in art was sparked by having paper around him as his family ran a paper company. Based in Nigeria, the hyper-realist artist has had his work showcased at the Insanity Exhibition in Lagos. The event was organised by Frot Foundation. The exhibition was hosted by Omenka Gallery. Arinze's Disturbia series was showcased among nine other hyper-realist artists.

To Arinze, making art is like energy transfer. He said on his Instagram page, "I deeply feel I'm transferring all my energy and emotions from my life form to paper through my pencils. The affinity to create, a true image and nature of God."

There is one unmistakable feature in all of Arinze's drawings, the exploration of emotions, from desolation, famishment, insomnia, to implosion. Using coal on paper or graphite on paper, Arinze achieves the seemingly unimaginable. With some drawings taking up to 200 hours to complete, there's no denying that the attention to detail and time spent on each drawing is worth it.

When drawing hair in a portrait, he studies the kind of hair he's using as reference, the volume of hair, the size of the strands of hair depending on the kind of hair. Starting his drawings from no specific place, he draws from places with the darkest value.

As Stanley's drawings of his fellow Nigerians attest, he loves highlighting everything about the African existence. Plus, his drawings are an opportunity to explore and showcase values and the "deeper unexplored emotions" of humanity in general.

Ideally, Stanley wants to connect with people, creating a sort of "artist-viewer" bond when the works are shown. He wants viewers' eyes to pour over the details, but also get a feel for each subject's unique expression, which occupy a range of emotions—thoughtfulness, reflection, exhaustion, humor and surprise, amongst others.

Stanley's debut exhibition was in 2016 at Omenka Gallery in Lagos, where he showed work alongside nine other artists working in the area of realism. The exhibition is one of many signs that Nigerian art scene is not only healthy but blossoming at the local, regional, and international levels.

"Art in Nigeria is growing at a very rapid rate, as well beginning to gain some global recognition," says Stanley. "One thing I love most about Nigerian art is the level of diversity in the art. There are so many beautiful kinds of art here from contemporary to local and otherwise. Inasmuch as I can say that art is growing in Nigeria, I still feel there is so much untapped."