By Chris Onuoha

The atmosphere was charged with art enthusiasts, collectors, critics and the media who made up the spectators that thronged the African Artists Foundation (AAF) arena in Victoria Island Lagos to grace a solo art exhibition by Ayanfe Olarinde.

From the serenity and ambience of the AAF domain laced with friendly lushly ecosystem and artistic crafted interiors depicting an art in itself, the scene, the mood, the costumes, weird looking community of young people and a slight mix of general art enthusiast all summed up to represent what Ayanfe would love to see and classify as ‘modernism’ in her own right.

Perhaps, the most inviting cynosure is the artist statement well crafted on the wall like an installation staring an opposing theme work “modernism” that captures the spirit behind the works on display. The statement in its captivating format tells more story, idea and inspiration behind Ayanfe’s body of works. In it, Olarinde disclosed that although, her science background notwithstanding, art has taken toll on her, and she is not relenting in creating works of art that will stand the test of time.

For the artist, the choice of theme represents growing through knowing, but not a knowing that could be read in books or any other means practiced in isolation. The knowing here, according to her speaks to learning from life itself via a language, its most fluent language, time and experience spoken by the entire body.

Olarinde employed her science background here to reflect what her futuristic art would be.

“Western canons often present art and science as existing in completely independent spheres of inquiry; but in African epistemology, there is a seamless exchange of ideas between both aspects. Memories are not stored whole in any one cell, but distributed in fragments through networks of neurons, this means new pieces can be added for context throughout a lifetime making anyone event an evolving thought-form.

“That is to say, in any one lifetime, a single event will live many lives as experiences recolour the memory with context that brings new truths, feelings, and meaning to the reels of our lives. It is how the once banal become nostalgic and even pain can be transmuted to fondness,” she stated.

She also mentioned in her statement that for many artists, the COVID years have been a period of isolation characterized by time distortions, adding that the neurons keep the score, and they are distributed throughout the body waiting to be triggered at any moment by as little as the scent of a perfume or an old song on the radio.

According to her, the result, a strange feeling of amnesia as time becomes more and more difficult to pin down with a painful repetition of life becoming the dominant reference frame. “How do you add context when nothing seems to be changing over time? How do you even create new memories, when a world in standstill won’t provide the events for new neural pathways to emerge?” she queried.

Olarinde approaches the reopening of the wider world with a sense of thirst as if to drink up every drop of time for fear of waste. This psychological disposition resulted not just in a hunger to feel more, but also, to be more conscious and reflective of these feelings, and so this collection was born.

Describing her solo exhibition as reopening of the wider world made possible by the post pandemic era, Olarinde stated, “As the world gains back its pre-pandemic momentum, Now I Know Why Birds Fly serves as a journal of youthful reemergence with its tongue on the stream of life. It is a journal of recollections painted with the surreal signature motif of the artist’s mind trying to make tangible the mental and visceral taste of life fleeting in time as it moves from one moment to the next.”

In the entire body of works, Olarinde employ different modes of expression, to convey varying layers of her lived experiences during a time when reality was a box. In this collection, a kaleidoscope of intimacy, venerability, loss, and euphoria are not just explored experiences – but also an ode to beauty in the aesthetic and resonance in the symbology. “ In time, the memories preserved in these works of art might well take on a new life in the artist’s mind, but that will never mean the death of the old in the way we do not lose an old self upon every new discovery in our lifetime,” remarked Olarinde.

Olarinde explores and drives conversation around self-image, identity formation, social reality, collective history and mental health while probing popular culture and the inefficiencies of the government in contemporary society.

Drawing from imperfections in her personal, continuous journey for acceptance, Olarinde’s engagement with the scribbling technique serves as a way to interrogate emotion while working across various media including ink, acrylics, wire and found objects which she uses to create richly textured drawings, paintings, collages and sculptures engaging with personal history and experiences in her artistic journey. As an evocative artist influenced by her passage through life, her oeuvre has evolved to include works in photography and digital art. She is particularly interested in exploring conceptual photography as a tool for understanding the psychology of her subjects.

On a side chat with the artist, she explained that it is her first solo art exhibition after several group exhibitions she had in the past.

“Art to me came at the time I needed it. I am not really from an art family but though, my grandparents including my parents are very good in playing the local Yoruba talking drum but not fine artists. I started from when I was very small to scribble, draw and trying my hands on creative imaginations on paper.

“I am being inspired by observing things around me; music, movie and collective history and gender. The exhibition is actually a very personal one. It’s a new genre of painting I created from drawings and things I have written down in my diary that depicts when my life was changing from both good and bad. 2021 was a shaping year for me; a time that all the good and bad, all the worries hit me at a time. All these pieces are basically from a personal journey of life,” Olarinde said.

She described the exhibition as a direction of her thought towards her older self, her future self when she would look back and remember where she is coming from. “I wanted my first exhibition to be like genesis of more to come,” quipped Ayanfe.

Princess Ayoola, curator at African Artist Foundation described Ayanfe as a vibrant young artist she discovered and encouraged, having seen the energy, zeal and passion she has to create artistic works.

“Ayanfe is a fascinating young person who I have known for five years now as a weird person. She has exhibited this creative thing about her over time. She is always scribbling on the paper, drawing imaginative things and making arts. Through these, she was discovered and encouraged by me to push it up for something meaningful and greater. That was when I invited her for residency programme we held at the AAF that gave birth to this solo exhibition,” Ayoola said.

Describing her works, she mentioned that it has elements that bring out who she is. “It is her style, her niche all embedded in her art. Her art experience in this exhibition is new and vibrant. She is a curious person. We have followed her steps for a long period. There is always a mentorship relationship we had with her and alongside others in the residency programme. This also helped in her material handling and creative works.

In 2018, Olarinde was shortlisted for the GTBank Days of Dorcas photography contest. In 2019, she was nominated for the Future Awards prize for arts, and went on to win the First Bank Magic 125 Creative Contest in the same year. She was also the only Nigerian to emerge a winner at the AWIEF Prize for Creativity Award, South Africa, 2020. In 2019, she also exhibited alongside other photographers at the 25th Bamako Encounters, Mali – OFF exhibition, and the Live-In Desires exhibition organised by the Goethe Institute Nigeria and The Nlele Institute. Her internationally recognised series “Dem Bobo,” has been featured in several local and international publications including Reuters News, CNN, NowThisNews, Vogue, Channels, Konbini, MSN, Premium Times, NTA, and RADR Africa. In 2020, Olarinde was listed amongst the 100 Most Inspiring Women in Nigeria.

Olarinde is currently a mentee at the Nlele institute, and also the director and curator of Unearthical, an enterprise under which she explores the fashion and fine art genres of photography. She lives and works in Lagos.