Nigerian artist taking world by storm with her cutting-edge paper creations
News24a day ago
Her art pieces have been displayed around the world at galleries, including the House of Fine Art in London, Art021 in Shanghai and UTA Artist Space in Los Angeles.
This year alone, Ayobola Kekere-Ekun's pieces were showcased in Chicago, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Los Angeles and Singapore.
Ayobola (32) recently wrapped up her solo exhibition in Johannesburg at the Guns & Rain art gallery where she exhibited her Winners Take All collection.
'It went well, this is my first exhibition in Johannesburg since 2020,' she tells YOU from her home in Joburg.
'Winners Take All is a body of work where I create a deck of cards as a way of exploring political intrigue in Nigeria, and so I started that body of work in 2020 and I had made about 25 pieces. And this was my second exhibition. I would say it's like the completion of the series where I've now made the entire deck of cards.'
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Ayobola Kekere-Ekun (@ayobola.k)
Ayobola – who was born in Lagos, Nigeria, but has lived in SA for almost seven years – predominantly uses a technique called quilling for her art pieces.
With this art form she uses strips of paper which she shapes individually to create her art. She also uses a pencil, scissors, a ruler, tweezers, acrylic paint, fabrics and glue on the canvas alongside the strips of paper.
Her inspiration for each piece varies, she says.
'It depends on the body of work I'm focusing on. Inspiration, for me, tends to be either quite personal or observational. Either something that went on or something I'm going through.'
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Ayobola Kekere-Ekun (@ayobola.k)
The work she titled, Let's Go Where the Ones Who Sleep Dance, is heavily influenced by the 'most suicidal point' in her life.
'It started after my first solo exhibition, and I think it got worse during hard lockdown. My career was starting to rise, and I was just exhausted, I was working on my PhD, and I did not think I was doing a very good job at it.
'I think looking back, I had always been the type of person who tied their value as a human being to their achievements, so to hit the point where I was after my solo, I didn't even know if I'd ever make another piece again. It was a bit of an existential identity crisis.'
At this point Ayobola was alone in SA, living on campus at the University of Johannesburg (UJ), feeling isolated during lockdown and ready to throw in the towel.
Then an email from her father, Dr Tajudeen Ayodele (82), changed things for her.
'My father sent me a video of a Yoruba masquerade performance in our hometown,' she explains.
A Yoruba masquerade is a cultural practice where performers embody ancestral spirits through costumes and dances, and it's believed that their ancestors visit them during this celebration.
'I remember wondering why those who have left this world would ever willingly revisit it. It occurred to me that if beings in the next life could still find a reason to engage with this life, perhaps I just hadn't found my reason to stay yet. And in that moment, I thought, 'maybe there's something here I haven't found yet, maybe there's some meaning or some reason to be here'. And I started developing that body of work.'
Ayobola completed her PhD in art and design at UJ.
Today, the little girl who drew in the back of her schoolbooks since crèche is an award-winning artist.
She's also a recipient of The Dean Collection 20 St(Art)ups grant, a programme created by artists Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys to support emerging artists by providing them each with $5 000 (R90 000) to arrange their own exhibitions.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by The Dean Collection (@thedeancollection)
This enabled Ayobola to stage her first solo exhibition in Lagos in 2018.
Ayobola's clientele are mainly international, and asked if any of them are famous, she's reluctant to say. 'I don't think I'm allowed to say. People engage with my work, even people I wouldn't expect.'
Even though she may have famous supporters, her biggest fan will always be her dad. 'I think he gets more excited than I do.'
Ayobola's art pieces are usually 60cm by 60cm to 150cm by 150cm and can take anything from two weeks to eight months to complete.
She's currently working on a commissioned piece that's her largest yet, 200cm by 300cm, and it will be completed in the next two months.
She is also working on an upcoming solo exhibition later in the year with BKhz, an art gallery in Rosebank, Joburg.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Ayobola Kekere-Ekun (@ayobola.k)
Looking back at her journey, Ayobola says art has taught her many life lessons, but one about rejection always stands out.
'It's not to take rejection personally, not taking it to heart,' she says.
'Someone not liking your work or not valuing what you do, doesn't devalue what you're trying to say, it's just not for them and that's okay.'
This year alone, Ayobola Kekere-Ekun's pieces were showcased in Chicago, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Los Angeles and Singapore.
Ayobola (32) recently wrapped up her solo exhibition in Johannesburg at the Guns & Rain art gallery where she exhibited her Winners Take All collection.
'It went well, this is my first exhibition in Johannesburg since 2020,' she tells YOU from her home in Joburg.
'Winners Take All is a body of work where I create a deck of cards as a way of exploring political intrigue in Nigeria, and so I started that body of work in 2020 and I had made about 25 pieces. And this was my second exhibition. I would say it's like the completion of the series where I've now made the entire deck of cards.'
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Ayobola Kekere-Ekun (@ayobola.k)
Ayobola – who was born in Lagos, Nigeria, but has lived in SA for almost seven years – predominantly uses a technique called quilling for her art pieces.
With this art form she uses strips of paper which she shapes individually to create her art. She also uses a pencil, scissors, a ruler, tweezers, acrylic paint, fabrics and glue on the canvas alongside the strips of paper.
Her inspiration for each piece varies, she says.
'It depends on the body of work I'm focusing on. Inspiration, for me, tends to be either quite personal or observational. Either something that went on or something I'm going through.'
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Ayobola Kekere-Ekun (@ayobola.k)
The work she titled, Let's Go Where the Ones Who Sleep Dance, is heavily influenced by the 'most suicidal point' in her life.
'It started after my first solo exhibition, and I think it got worse during hard lockdown. My career was starting to rise, and I was just exhausted, I was working on my PhD, and I did not think I was doing a very good job at it.
'I think looking back, I had always been the type of person who tied their value as a human being to their achievements, so to hit the point where I was after my solo, I didn't even know if I'd ever make another piece again. It was a bit of an existential identity crisis.'
At this point Ayobola was alone in SA, living on campus at the University of Johannesburg (UJ), feeling isolated during lockdown and ready to throw in the towel.
Then an email from her father, Dr Tajudeen Ayodele (82), changed things for her.
'My father sent me a video of a Yoruba masquerade performance in our hometown,' she explains.
A Yoruba masquerade is a cultural practice where performers embody ancestral spirits through costumes and dances, and it's believed that their ancestors visit them during this celebration.
'I remember wondering why those who have left this world would ever willingly revisit it. It occurred to me that if beings in the next life could still find a reason to engage with this life, perhaps I just hadn't found my reason to stay yet. And in that moment, I thought, 'maybe there's something here I haven't found yet, maybe there's some meaning or some reason to be here'. And I started developing that body of work.'
Ayobola completed her PhD in art and design at UJ.
Today, the little girl who drew in the back of her schoolbooks since crèche is an award-winning artist.
She's also a recipient of The Dean Collection 20 St(Art)ups grant, a programme created by artists Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys to support emerging artists by providing them each with $5 000 (R90 000) to arrange their own exhibitions.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by The Dean Collection (@thedeancollection)
This enabled Ayobola to stage her first solo exhibition in Lagos in 2018.
Ayobola's clientele are mainly international, and asked if any of them are famous, she's reluctant to say. 'I don't think I'm allowed to say. People engage with my work, even people I wouldn't expect.'
Even though she may have famous supporters, her biggest fan will always be her dad. 'I think he gets more excited than I do.'
Ayobola's art pieces are usually 60cm by 60cm to 150cm by 150cm and can take anything from two weeks to eight months to complete.
She's currently working on a commissioned piece that's her largest yet, 200cm by 300cm, and it will be completed in the next two months.
She is also working on an upcoming solo exhibition later in the year with BKhz, an art gallery in Rosebank, Joburg.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Ayobola Kekere-Ekun (@ayobola.k)
Looking back at her journey, Ayobola says art has taught her many life lessons, but one about rejection always stands out.
'It's not to take rejection personally, not taking it to heart,' she says.
'Someone not liking your work or not valuing what you do, doesn't devalue what you're trying to say, it's just not for them and that's okay.'
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