Ayanfe Olarinde

Born in 1996, Ayanfe Olarinde is a self-trained visual artist from Nigeria currently employing scribbling techniques as well as photography in creating intricately detailed and multi-layered images. In 2018, Olarinde graduated from the University of Lagos with a BSc in Microbiology and has since then been dedicating her full time to art, creating works from her studio based in Lagos.

Her journey into art emanated from her love for scribbling, an art form bore out of imperfection on her quest for acceptance. Through this she is able to unpack her emotions in thought-provoking ways. Ayanfe’s artistic dynamism connects enthusiasts in more perspectives than one as she exploits her use of several medium including ink, paint, wire, fabric and discarded objects in creating scribbles, doodles, sculptures, paintings, digital art, upcycled artworks, and textures for her scribbles whilst speaking on broader issues of self-exploration. As an evocative artist influenced by her passage through life, her oeuvre has evolved from mixed media works on canvas 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. In the past couple of years, Olarinde has participated in several group exhibitions in Nigeria and abroad including: Dis Lagos Life (2020) at SMO Contemporary Arts in Lagos, Say My Name (2020) at Signature African Art Gallery in the London, Unusual Suspects (2021) at the African Artists Foundation in Lagos, Black Voices- Friends Of My Mind at the Ross-Sutton Gallery in New York City, and Real Life Is Fragile (2021) at Thinkspace Projects in Los Angeles to name a few.

Some of her career highlights from the ongoing year 2021 include winning the Artist In Focus grand for Guest Projects Digital offered by the Gas Foundation in Nigeria, and receiving the Raise Our Voice grant from Voice HQ, an NFT platform for emerging artists. In 2020, Olarinde won the Creative Industry award awarded by AWIEF AWARD in South Africa. In the previous years, other achievements include being shortlisted for the GTBank

Days of Dorcas photography contest (2018), being nominated at 23 for the Future Awards prize for arts (2019), and winning the First Bank Magic 125 Creative Contest (2019). Olarinde’s internationally recognised series “Dem Bobo”, has been featured in several local and international publications including Reuters News, CNN, NowThisNews, Vogue, Konbini, MSN, Premium Times, NTA, and RADR Africa. In 2020, Olarinde was listed amongst the 100 Most Inspiring Women in Nigeria by Leading Women Africa.