Anadu Art Gallery

Take Your Time: Oluwadamilola Oni on Colour, Nature, and Perspective

October 13, 2026

By: Chieloka Anadu

Before Oluwadamilola Oni lays down a single block of colour, there is usually a feeling that something needs to be made. “There is also an intuitive need in me to create,” Oni says, and painting is how that need finds its voice, turning visual compositions into “a means of communicating with the world.” Based in Lagos, Oni is both a Nigerian artist and an architectural designer, with a practice rooted in memory, culture, nature, and human experience. Colour, texture, and composition do the translating, carrying ideas onto the visual canvas.

The inspiration behind the work is broad and personal. “A lot of my inspiration comes from God and His universe,” Oni explains, naming nature, places, and people as the threads that run through it.

Oni points to Duro Arts, Sir Duksalot, Anthony Azekwoh, and Sam Spratt as influences on his work.

The medium is digital painting, built through colour blocking and blending. For Oni, it offers flexibility: room to experiment and develop ideas “without feeling too restricted by the process.”

When creative blocks arrive, Oni doesn’t push through them. “I don’t force it when I am stuck,” Oni says. Instead, the approach is to step back and observe, take a break by meditating or visiting museums and galleries, and let the work flow again in its own time.

If the artwork could speak, Oni imagines a gentle invitation to the viewer: “Take your time. See things from your own perspective and take whatever it means to you home.”

For Oni, participating in the Anadu Art Fair is first of all a chance to leave the studio, share the work, and connect with people. Professionally, it is an opportunity to grow and to be seen as a creative.Follow Oni’s journey on Instagram: _ oluwadamilolaoni