Perception.
A whole new vision.
I blend art, sport and finance to help people see their work and lives through a new lens. Syklops is the practice I use to unlock that shift — on stage, in advisory work and in creative projects.
About
Femi Azeez
For three decades I built a career in accountancy — a world of precision, discipline and trust. Alongside it I raised two sons who became professional footballers, and spent fifteen years training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, earning my black belt.
At eighteen I lost my right eye. For most of my life I carried it quietly. Then, four decades later, the response finally arrived — not as words, but as an image. I painted Syklops: an abstract self-portrait born from delayed trauma, and from the realisation that adversity had quietly sharpened the way I see.
Today I'm an artist. Syklops is a body of work, built on the four pillars — Perception. Constraint. Adaptation. Resilience. — a framework for facing hardship, and a reminder that a single point of view, fully owned, can be a kind of clarity.
- 30 yrs
- Career in accountancy
- Black belt
- Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
- 15 yrs
- On the mats
- Age 18
- Lost his right eye
The Syklops Framework
Four pillars of transformation
Syklops explores the human experience through four interconnected pillars: Perception, Constraint, Adaptation and Resilience. Together, they examine how we see the world, respond to adversity, adapt to change, and ultimately emerge transformed.
Perception
How we see shapes how we experience.
Perception influences how we understand ourselves, others and the world around us. Syklops challenges us to question what we see and consider what may exist beyond our immediate perspective.
Constraint
Limitations shape the way we respond.
Constraint can come from circumstance, environment, trauma or adversity. It can restrict us, but it can also force us to confront limitations and discover new possibilities.
Adaptation
When circumstances change, we change with them.
Adaptation is the process of finding new ways forward when the path we knew is no longer available. It is about adjusting, evolving and redefining what is possible.
Resilience
What challenges us can become part of what strengthens us.
Resilience is the capacity to move through trauma, adversity and disruption and emerge with renewed strength, perspective and purpose. It is not simply returning to who we were, but discovering who we can become.
The Syklops Journey
A continuous cycle of seeing, confronting, adapting and emerging. Syklops explores this journey through art — creating a space where perception can be challenged, limitations can be reimagined, and adversity can become a catalyst for transformation.
BJJ as a Discipline
My Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Journey
For over 15 years, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has been a constant in my life.
Whether I trained once a week or five times a week, it was always there in some shape or form. That consistency taught me one of the most important principles of both Jiu-Jitsu and life: you don't always see the rewards immediately, but eventually something clicks.
Achieving my Black Belt, which I have now held for over three years, remains one of my biggest achievements in life. It represents far more than a rank around my waist — it's years of showing up, learning, failing, adapting, starting again and continuing when progress wasn't always visible.
“Jiu-Jitsu changed my perception.”
On the mats, nothing stays still. Your opponent is constantly moving, changing position, applying pressure and creating problems that require an immediate response. There is rarely a perfect or predetermined solution. You have to observe, feel, think and adapt.
Sometimes the lesson comes when you're in control. More often, it comes when you're not. Being trapped. Being under pressure. Being forced to tap. Finding yourself in a position you don't know how to escape from. These moments are uncomfortable, but they are often where the biggest breakthroughs happen.
The pressure forces you to think differently. Then, sometimes, a light-bulb moment happens: you see something you couldn't see before. That is the beauty of Jiu-Jitsu. It teaches you that being under pressure doesn't mean you're failing — sometimes pressure is what creates the opportunity to learn, adapt and improve.
Over time, adapting to constantly changing situations made me more resilient — not just on the mats, but off them. I learned to become comfortable with uncertainty, to stay composed when things don't go to plan, and to keep searching for another way forward.
Fifteen years of Jiu-Jitsu has also taught me that progress isn't always dramatic. Sometimes it's measured in small adjustments: a better position, a better decision, an extra minute of survival, or simply returning to the mats when you didn't feel like training.
Consistency creates opportunity. Pressure creates awareness. Adaptation creates progress. And over time, those experiences build resilience.
01
Perception
On the mats, nothing stays still. You observe, feel, think and adapt.
02
Constraint
Being trapped, under pressure, forced to tap — pressure creates awareness.
03
Adaptation
No perfect solution. You keep searching for another way forward.
04
Resilience
Composure when things don’t go to plan, built one round at a time.
That is why Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has become much more than a sport to me. It has influenced how I approach challenges, how I respond to adversity, and how I understand the relationship between Perception, Constraint, Adaptation and Resilience.
“It is a way of thinking.”
The lessons learned on the mats don't stay on the mats.
They come with you.
Artworks & Apparel
Wear the vision. Own the original.
Original artworks, limited prints and Syklops apparel — fulfilled and shipped through the Syklops store.
