By Osa Mbonu-Amadi

With artistic narratives revolving around the often misconstrued notion of identity, Nigerian art photographer, Ifeoluwapo Rachael Okunade, explores multiplicity of self, using portraits that reveal the subject beyond the surface meaning.

Building on a robust understanding of fine art photography, Ifeoluwapo portrays contemplative postures through kinetic art. Her compositions are carefully etched in images that mirror intentional contemplation. Each figure in the series appears as regal portraiture, embedded with psycho-social and cultural engagements.

The innovative artist investigates the idea that identity is multifaceted, directing the viewer away from a single surface viewing based on public perception or reputation.

Conveying the view that time, emotions, cultural signals, and memory, instigate varying selves in diverse contexts, Portrait of many Selves and Dual Identity are staged as a language for memory and continuous change.

The art work shows body parts like faces and limbs stretched across a period of time, as if motion is traced to a point and then suspended.

Ifeoluwapo deliberately uses blurs to register the emotional and psychological tension in the growth process, documenting intense kinetic
moments with defining gestures like a gaze, a hand, whimsical look, an eye, or arms akimbo, capturing humanity in abstract frames.

In one of the art work , the artist uses the blur as metaphorical representation of histories, untold stories, unresolved conflicts, bottled emotions, and cocooned identity. In doing this, she livens the photographic surface, making it an attractive site for the convergence of memory, body, emotions, and lived or vicarious experiences.

In terms of contextual relevance, Ifeoluwapo’s work goes beyond individual portraiture as it resonates with diasporic narratives about African migrants who shield their cultural identity, put on foreign accents, and wears while in search of validation.

For Ifeoluwapo, photography transcends image because it includes the surface and shape. So she extends her photographs to encapsulate the tactile experience of abstract concepts, applying inks, brushstrokes, and sundry painting materials as finishing touches. The altered physical form suggests that identity is dynamic and never static.

In terms of style, Ifeoluwapo uses illustrative photographs and metaphoric language to capture the essence of
“Portrait of Many Selves” which showcases figures in miniature frames, echoing the inner voice’s message.

Ifeoluwapo also stylistically employs striking poetic subtitles for each image to guide viewers’ understanding of the details embedded in each work, thereby making them relatable and minimising the difficulty in interpretation.

As the title suggests, Motion Blur Stories encapsulates artistic narratives that task the viewer to decode intentionally “blurred” ideas, replacing the seeming internal confusion with distinct psycho-social or political messaging.

Ifeoluwapo’s images seem to linger on the mind because the artist conceptualises them as thoughtful visual representations of personal or group identity.

The artist’s portraiture creates a space for conversations on what identity truly entails. Each piece focuses on selfhood illustrated through figurative personae embodied with classical and biblical allusions, fragmentations of self, motion, and distortions.

In Portrait of many Selves and Dual Identity, Ifeoluwapo explores the idea that within one person lies many selves. This thematic preoccupation is literally realised in the title which features figures that cue the viewer to interrogate many overlapping and refracting faces, revealing that they co-exist within the same person. For instance, “Dual Identity” shows a two-faced image: a metaphor for a divided self. This can be viewed as a split personality, a hypocrite, or one struggling to align with either an idealised or real self image.

In some of the artworks, the innovative artist explores the difference between how individuals perceive themselves and how others see them.

With frames that show many faces, the artist stages a community, mirroring the reality of coexistence alongside embodied emotional and psychological states, culminating in multifaceted identities.

Perhaps, Ifeoluwapo unconsciously draws from the biblical allusion, “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he” to reveal that real identities are within the subjects whereas facial expressions, mimicry, and gestures cocoon the self from scrutiny.

Although one could disguise to present a false image to others, such pretence never works for self. Evoking William Shakespeare’s famous quote, “To thyself be true,” the collection shows that distortions, documented histories, and public perception rarely hide the real identity which the persona alone knows.

Ifeoluwapo describes the process in her own words, saying, “Through distortion, motion, fragmentation, and structured portraiture, I push against the notion that identity is static or unipolar. I present it as dynamic and ever-changing nature, influenced by experience, memory, culture, and perception.”

Thematic concerns explored in the series include change, self-discovery, and search for true identity. “Drawing on personal experience, every photograph depicts a form of ambiguity, showing viewers how to think about the various selves we hold onto in life,” Ifeoluwapo says.

The collection includes emblematic titles such as Portrait of Many Selves, Dual Identity, and Motion Blur Stories.

Ifeoluwapo speaks about some of these pieces that have been exhibited locally and internationally, saying that her experimental portraiture connects the inner self through a visual internal dialogue, memory, and reflection, leading to the uncovering of identity as a temporal social position that changes as the persona adapts to new realities.

The art pieces are sequentially arranged in patterns that distinctly reveal how oneself transits to another while the blur clears off for clarity to set in.

Ifeoluwapo’s work anchors on fictive identity which resonates with real life stories. The artist explores quiet introspection, meditation, and contemplation, using processes that account for continuous change and suggesting that identity is ephemeral.

Impressively, Portrait of Many Selves and Dual Identity have featured in juried exhibitions at Red 19 Global Cultural Word, Ancient Voices Art, Derby UK, and Nigeria (2025).

Although Ifeoluwapo focuses on portraiture, her work now features on the global stage with notable appearances in the US, UK, and different parts of Nigeria. Motion blur has been exhibited at Praxis Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota (2025) in an exhibition themed , Interpretation of Dreams.