Ronke Ladipo

Ronke Ladipo is a Nigerian multidisciplinary artist and designer whose practice explores cultural identity, memory, symbolism, transformation, and the emotional possibilities of familiar objects. Working across painting, sculpture, functional art, collectible furniture, fashion and experimental materials, Ladipo transforms everyday forms into works that carry personal and cultural narratives.
Ladipo is a self-taught artist whose practice is rooted in storytelling and material experimentation. Her recurring Agadagodo body of work uses the padlock as a symbol of protection, security, love, attachment, and the complexities of human relationships. This visual language extends into her sculptural and functional works, including her distinctive padlock-inspired bags and furniture.

Her practice also explores sustainability through material transformation. In From Ashes, Design, Ladipo reinterprets discarded cigarette materials and industrial waste as sculptural and functional objects. Her Sìga Chair similarly explores the transformation of familiar forms into collectible furniture, incorporating recycled leather and other materials.

In painting, Ladipo’s recent body of work, The Lady and Her Scarf, explores memory, movement, femininity,...

Academy for Women Entrepreneurs (AWE), DreamBuilder: The Women’s Business Creator. Thunderbird School of Global Management and Freeport-McMoRan Foundation. U.S. Department of State Exchange Alumni.

Fashion Studies — Paris American Academy, Paris.

2025 From Ashes, Design
Sustainable furniture and sculptural design exploring waste, transformation and circular material thinking.

2025 The Lady and Her Scarf
Figurative painting series exploring memory, movement, femininity, culture and quiet moments through the symbolism of the scarf.

Agadagodo
Painting, bags and functional objects using the padlock as a symbol of protection, security, love and attachment.

Sìga Chair
Collectible furniture inspired by cigars, incorporating recycled leather and a stainless-steel ashtray.

Padlock Bag Series
Hand-painted functional art objects merging fashion, sculpture and symbolism.