"IDENTITY II" Painting

Oluwafemi Afolabi is a Nigerian contemporary painter whose works explore resilience, motherhood, survival, and identity through the symbolic use of bats and Ankara fabric. Born in Northern Nigeria and originally from Ogbomoso, Oyo State, his artistic journey is deeply rooted in personal history, memory, and cultural experience. His introduction to art began informally after secondary school while training in graphic design and sign writing at Mide Print in Oyo Town. Driven by a lifelong passion for visual storytelling, he later studied Painting and Graphic Arts at Emmanuel Alayande College of Education, Oyo, graduating in 2017, and further obtained a degree in Fine and Applied Arts from Obafemi Awolowo University. Oluwafemi’s paintings are recognized for their expressive figurative style and recurring bat imagery — a symbol drawn from his childhood experiences in Birnin Gwari, Kaduna State. During a difficult period in his family’s life, bats became both a source of survival and a lasting metaphor for endurance. Inspired by a Yoruba proverb often repeated by his mother — “If a bat has only one hand left, it will still hold onto the tree” — the bat in his work represents resilience, adaptability, and hope in the face of hardship. Equally significant in his paintings is Ankara fabric, which symbolizes sacrifice, dignity, and motherhood. His mother’s constant use of Ankara as an affordable yet elegant fabric became a lasting reminder of her selflessness and determination to provide for her children after the loss of his father. In Oluwafemi’s work, Ankara is transformed from ordinary textile into a visual language of love, endurance, and cultural pride. Through layered compositions, symbolic figures, and emotionally charged narratives, Oluwafemi creates paintings that speak to overlooked lives and everyday struggles while emphasizing hope, perseverance, and human strength. His works invite viewers into stories of survival, emotional connection, and the quiet heroism often found within African homes and communities. Artist Statement My art is a reflection of memory, survival, and human resilience. Through painting, I explore stories that are often overlooked — stories of sacrifice, motherhood, struggle, hope, and identity. The recurring bat in my work is not a symbol of fear, but of endurance.