By: YUSUF OLAMILEKAN DAUDA

COLLECTIONS OF CREATIVE MEMORIES

ART PORTFOLIO

ARTIST PROFILE

YUSUF OLAMILEKAN DAUDA was born on the Lagos Island, Nigeria before his parents relocated to their own home on the Mainland area of Otto-Awori LCDA (Era-Awori). He is a passionate multidisciplinary contemporary artist and visual storyteller (Painter, Photographer, Calligrapher, Art Educator & Art Curator) who incorporate African traditional tie-dye hues as a powerful symbol of cultural expressions in his paintings. His works are inspired by the beauty of comparative African intercultural-religious values, stories, identity, neocolonialism, migration, fashion and the influence of African culture on a global discourse. He is the founder of Artsthetics creative studios & gallery, Lagos.

He graduated with a First-class (double honours) from the department of Fine and Applied Arts, University of Nigeria, Nsukka in 2019. He has participated in several group exhibitions both in Nigeria and abroad. He is an ambassador and alumnus of the British Council, a participant of the ‘Made In Nigeria, Masterclass’ by the German Corporation in collaboration with Nike Art Gallery among others. He has participated in several international art competitions and his visual art series were published in the ‘ALCHEMY; Journal of Translation’ of the departments of Literature and Linguistics, University of California, San Diego in 2023.

Artist Biography

He has exhibited alongside other prominent Nigerian artists at the Alliance Francaise Art Gallery, Ikoyi- Lagos in 2020 and also participated at the Lagos Miniature Art Exhibition organized by Ogirikan Art Gallery and Iwalewa Art Gallery, Lagos in 2023. In 2024, He was also a participating artist at the Affordable Art-fair Exhibition in Ibadan. He was also selected as a participating artist alongside other great contemporary Nigerian artists and Scholars of the University of Lagos at the African Heritage & Culture Exhibition organized by the Lagos State Government and the Ministry of Arts and Culture, Lagos at The Lekki Conservation Center, Lekki Lagos in June, 2025. He has also participated virtually in India, Indonesia, the United States and also in the UK. His artworks are being acquired by prominent galleries, institutions, collectors, and art patrons in Nigeria and abroad

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He is a Fellow of the Global Arts in Medicine Fellowship GAIMF 2025 (Cohort 9) focusing on using art as a form of healing for the marginalized and displaced people such as health patients, orphans, single-mothers, girl child and other vulnerable teenagers in his community.

Artist Statement

Collectively, my art capture the essence of human emotions, unique beauty, cultural diversity, faiths, activities, resilience, identity, fashion and political transformations that tells the uniqueness of our stories for generations to come.

DRAWINGS GALLERY

“An inner echo”, 56 x 64cm,

Charcoal on Paper, 2020

“My drawing skill started at a very young age when I was around 7 years or earlier. I would make sketches of ideas expressed on any given papers and soon extended to walls on our tiny home, fridge, cupboard, and on every item I could lay my hands on. I was fascinated by cartoons I saw on our black and white TV and the comics on newsprints.”

“Elders’ food”, 56 x 64cm,

Charcoal on Paper, 2020

“The Melancholy”, 56 x 64cm,

Charcoal on Paper, 2020

“Her Smile”, 56 x 64cm,

Charcoal on Paper, 2020

“The Experienced”, 56 x 64cm,

Charcoal on Paper, 2020

“The Regal”, 56 x 64cm,

Charcoal on Paper, 2020

“Ample of my Eyes”, 56 x 64cm,Charcoal on Paper,2020

“exploring my culture as a cross-examination of neo-colonial influences, cultural identity, tradition, faith, fashion and struggles of marginalized society of Sub-Saharan Africans represented on a substrate using compressed charcoal and bold strokes as an eternal imprints in visual form of storytelling is primary to my expressions”

“The Royal Dancers”, 56 x 64cm, Charcoal on Paper, 2020

“The Resilience”, 56 x 64cm,

Charcoal on Paper, 2020

“A look ahead”, 56 x 64cm,

Charcoal on Paper, 2020

“Still-life Study”, 56 x 64cm,

Charcoal on Paper, 2020

“The Healer”, 56 x 64cm,

Charcoal on Paper, 2020

“Death of Philosophers”, 56 x 64cm,Charcoal on Paper,2017

“2020 Covid projected me for a more devoted time to my arts and helped me refine my skills and vision with creative clarity like never before. Afterwards, my approach to my art comes with a great sense of improvement and critical thinking that transforms my output and also exposed me to community of changemakers around the world till date”

“The Lagos Babe”, 56 x 64cm, Charcoal on Paper, 2020

“Father’s Love”, 56 x 64cm,

Charcoal on Paper, 2020

“Love binds”, 56 x 64cm,

Charcoal on Paper, 2020

“The Black Roses”, 56 x 64cm,

Charcoal on Paper, 2020

“A Self moment”, 56 x 64cm,

Charcoal on Paper, 2020

“The Royal Bride”, 56 x 64cm,Charcoal on Paper,2018

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Artistically, charcoal allows me to make heavy bold strokes that contrast the white background of its substrates while leaving behind some fine grains of bold visually appealing sensations that are provoking to sightseeing and contagious to touch while steering the space with an aura of traditional imprints as did drawings of the western old masters.

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My drawing skill was greatly influenced by the critical studies of Leonardo Davinci, Rafael Santi, Rembrandt, Picasso, Aina Onabolu, Akinola Lasekan, Ben Enwonwu and several other global artists who have refined my visual preference of what to capture or leave out in my compositions.

I choose charcoal as my medium of creative drawing expressions because of the traditional and cultural significance it holds to my heritage. It symbolizes the rich cultural history of our ancestors (prior to the slave trades and colonialism) who had soil our earth and planted us trees of life from which the ashes of charcoals were made. Just as trees were cut down to be burnt into charcoal, our story rises from the ashes of African baobabs and provides us healings from the many hundred of years of pains to reconnect with the world and heals by collectively building and standing at shoulders length once again as brothers and sisters who have all at a time lost something daring and looking forward to building sustainable world for all.

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My drawing inspire us to heal from the memories of these horrible past and project us towards a more inclusive and collaborating world for the better of all.

PAINTINGS GALLERY

Prior to my admission, into the university of Nigeria, Nsukka, I had started painting professionally in 2011 using watercolours on paper but by the end of the year I had started producing works in acrylics and oil on canvases that captivate viewers. I was majorly focused on the rich cultural narratives that will resonate with the people of my community than the mere aesthetics that meet the eyes of Lagos beauty.

“The Starry Night in my Village”, 71 x 31cm, Oil on Canvas, 2018

“Let Your Light Shines”, 39 x 58cm, Oil on Canvas, 2018

“IPINYA” (Seperation), 39 x 58cm, Mixed-media on Canvas, 2018

“Ekun-Ayo” (Tears of Joy), 60 x 46cm, Oil on Canvas, 2017

Since 2020, my paintings have transcends mere aesthetics to become a powerful commentary on the human expressions by drawing viewers into a universe of reflections and cultural appropriation. Beyond the figurative expressions, it focuses on cross-examining the influences of Islam and western culture in shaping the lives of our local society today and collectively, our modern world.

“African School of Thought”

, 40 x 60cm, Oil on Canvas, 2017

“Wura-Ola” (Golden scar), 133 x 150cm, Oil & Acrylic on Canvas, 2024

This particular painting was inspired by the rich African ancestral method of impacting knowledge through verbal-storytelling and personal mentorship. It provoke us to dive deeper into the ancient culture of African documentation of knowledge before the advent of modern civilization

Painting process

Close-up view

“ARABIRIN” (La Feminine) , 100 x 65cm, Mixed-media on Canvas, 2023

Close-up view

Painting process

Close-up view

Close-up view

“The Legendary of Bilikisu Sungbo” (Queen Sheba), 133 x 150cm, Oil & Acrylic on Canvas, 2024

“The Lady with Seven Roses”, 40 x 60cm, Mixed-media on Canvas, 2017

“The Game of Royal Warriors” , 36 x 40cm,

Oil & Acrylic on Canvas, 2025

Close-up view

The African tie-dyed backgrounds in acrylic paints create a traditional basis for telling the true uniqueness of African stories that is distinctive but yet influenced by the global transformation and development of our world.

Close-up view

“Gombe to Malay” , 36 x 40cm,

Oil & Acrylic on Canvas, 2025

“The Treasure within” , 52 x 60cm,

Mixed-media on Canvas, 2025

PHOTOGRAPHY GALLERY

My love for photography dates back to my early childhood memories of parties and birthday. Photography to us simply means ‘festivity’.

Growing up, I was fascinated to learn about the science and blend of artistic techniques of a camera functioning, seeing its ability to capture a moment for historical significances and also tell powerfully unique stories across subjects of both cultural and non-cultural elements.

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In 2015, I was able to swap three cultural paintings for a digital camera with a colleague who needed the paintings for his students-aided projects while I needed the camera for my creative exploration. That Nikon Coolpix P90- 12Megapixel CCD with a fixed 24x optical zoom lens became my most handy camera until 2020 when I was able to get an upgraded version. Most of the fascinated images in this portfolio were taken using this Coolpix P90.

“The Great Wall of Makoko”, Photography, 2017

Back in 2017, I was fortunate as an undergraduate to make documentary of the Makoko slum in Lagos. This particular image resonate with me from an unsual angle as I was able to take the picture from the third-mainland bridge as the day was preparing to set. The pictures in this series tells the unusual stories of ghetto survival.

“Sailing Home 4”, Photography, 2017

“Water on Water”, Photography, 2017

“Fetching firewood”, Photography, 2017

“Sailing Home 1”, Photography, 2017

“The floating Lands of Makoko”, Photography, 2017

“Sailing Home 5”, Photography, 2017

“The Sun shall soon set”, Photography, 2017

“Sailing Home 3”, Photography, 2017

“Between Life & Death”, Photography, 2017

“With Hope & Optimism”, Photography, 2017

This series of Makoko documentary were part of my extensive undergraduate research project in Photography class for unraveling the story of the people of Makoko, their living condition and their survival. The documentary earned me resounding applauses and credits in the department for the in-depth research and visual credence.

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More than the Makoko series, I had travelled across Nigeria documenting the diverse cultural beauty and moments that glorifies the beauty of our collective heritage and align us with the global creative community that projects our stories and document the moment for posterity.

“Mai Albasa (Onion Seller)”,

Photography, 2017

“Old Lagos”, Photography, 2015

“Ere’mode (Kids Play)”, Photography, 2016

“Cultural Pride”,

Photography, 2015

“Daily Bread 3”, Photography, 2021

“Daily Bread 1”, Photography, 2021

“Daily Bread 2”, Photography, 2021

“Agbero (Road Union)”, Photography, 2021

“NO Hanging”, Photography, 2021

These are few of the most recent powerful shots I made in 2021 Lagos tour. ‘Daily Bread’ series were focused to capture the tenacity of survival with no gender exemption, ‘Eremode’ and ‘Cultural pride’ reminiscence nostalgia as a child learning cultural values while ‘Agbero’ captures the ordeal of the streets.

These series are from my documentation of the 2022 Durbar (Royal horse racing) in Gombe State, marking the festivity of Eid celebrations. These event hold great significance to the Northern emirates and has being practiced for several centuries to commemorate the memories of their falling heroes and the culture that unites the Hausa/ Fulani tribes.

GRAPHICS GALLERY

Fundamentally, my graphics exploration started manually during my studies at a local vocational training center in 2013. we were taught how to print banners by hand and make silk/screen printings using meshes. We would splash colors and customize mass clothes for important events. We would create handcrafted greeting cards from papers and make colorful background for signage. This creative processes inspired me to learn digital software usage such as Adobe packages, Photoshop, Corel applications, Microsoft packages etc to horn my skills as an undergraduate with major in Visual Communication and Design. I became excellent as a graphics designer as I started receiving commissions for private and public projects in graphics (both for web and prints). I was also fortunate to execute a lot of design commissions for students and lecturers who found me fits to handle their projects.

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In 2018, I was invited to the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics National Conference (ASUP), as the official calligrapher by the

Movie Premier Poster Design, 2019

Assistant National President of ASUP at the Yaba College of Technology, Yaba– Lagos, to hand-sign certificates of participation for all senior and junior lecturers’ who are submitting articles for the year’s journal publication. Some of whom were my academic lecturers at the time. This great privilege inspired me to not throw out my skills while refining my competence in contemporary art practices but to rather blends both for the development and transformation of my community.

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After graduation in 2019, I started accepting design commissions in both contemporary art and digital arts boasting my portfolio of works with several undocumented that were creatively executed and delivered.

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In 2020 towards the end of the Covid, I was employed as a graphics and brand designer for a real estate company (Pyrafield Homes Limited, Lagos) where I worked for few months to the end of the year before resigning to enable me creatively explore and focus on the development of my gallery experience and contemporary storytelling. In the gallery (Iwalewa Art Gallery, Lekki- Lagos, Nigeria), I worked also as the Graphic Designer, Art Curator and Art Historian while exposing me to ample creative works of art that inspire my creative prowess with unique expression and quality outputs. However, the combinations of my creative skills, competence and exposure have transforms me into a unique individual with extra-ordinary potentials to tell stories that not only transcends the ordinary but also inspire others through educator and creative visual artworks in their unique diversity for national transformation.

Product Labels & Flyers Design, 2019

Flyers and Business Cards Design, 2021

Food Banner & Menu Design, 2021

GRAPHICS GALLERY

Flier& Book Cover Design, 2021

Movie Disc, Flier & Disc Package Design,

2021

MEDIA & PUBLICITY

SOCIAL MEDIA