Modern Artist Profile - Charles Boloebi Okah

In conversation with Charles Boloebi Okah, also known as The Flying Bushman, one of the many talented artists participating in the 2025 Mississauga Festival of Trees.

1. Tell us a bit about your art practice. What do you specifically do?

My practice is about bridging worlds, cultures, and ideas through painting, sculpture, metalsmithing, ceramics, stained glass, and mixed media. The name The Flying Bushman comes from the legend of the Flying Dutchman, a ship cursed to sail forever, always searching but never arriving. I see creativity that way: a lifelong search, a journey of becoming. My work carries a sense of that movement. It shifts between surrealism and humour, between reality and imagination, always looking for new ways to express the human story.

 2. What inspires you?

I’m inspired by people, by the way they exist and express beauty in their daily lives. I’m inspired by nature itself, by the way it teaches balance and imperfection. And for as a creator, I find a lot of influence in anime, sci-fi, and surrealism. I love stories that stretch reality, that make you see the world from a different lens. I also use humour as a creative language, it keeps the work human and grounded. My inspiration is everywhere: in movement, laughter, memory, and the constant act of becoming.

 3. How do you approach a new project?

I approach each project like a conversation. I listen to the materials first. They usually tell me what they want to become. Sometimes that means sketching for days, other times it means jumping straight in and letting instinct take over. I’m always thinking about form, rhythm, and structure, how a piece can hold both weight and play. I want the final work to feel alive, like it could move if you turned away for a second.
Scale is important to me too. I like art that feels bigger than life, something that challenges space and perception.

 4. Describe the experience of working with CreativeHub 1352 in Mississauga on a commissioned artwork for the Festival of Trees.

Working with CreativeHub 1352 has been a great experience. They’ve built a space where imagination is encouraged, and artists are trusted to bring their full voice to the table. The collaboration has been full of energy and openness. For this piece, I wanted to build something that transforms a familiar symbol, the tree, into something almost dreamlike. The team supported that vision completely, which allowed me to explore freely and push the scale of my work in new directions.

 5. What excites you about Mississauga’s Festival of Trees?

What excites me most is the chance to connect with people through wonder. The Festival of Trees brings art to the public in such an interactive, interesting way. It’s about shared experience, and not just looking at art, but allowing everyone to be part of it.

 6. What’s in store for 2026?

My goal is to keep pushing the boundaries of where art can live and bringing to life whatever we can dream up. I want to play with scale, creating smaller delicate pieces and ultra larger-than-life ones.
Whether it’s in a gallery, a city bus, a hand, or the side of a building. The journey continues. Always searching, always becoming.

Connect with Charles Boloebi Okah, also known as The Flying Bushman, on Instagram.