By: Chieloka Anadu
Running through nearly every painting by Kareem Joseph Ayomide is a streak of red fluid, set against finely detailed pencil work, and it carries a meaning he doesn’t leave to chance: struggle, pain, and sacrifice. It is his signature, and it says a good deal about how he works. A Nigerian visual artist working in mixed media, Ayomide uses his practice to express ideas, emotions, and experiences, drawing on his own life, on the lives of other people, and on what he observes in society and his surroundings. He is drawn to struggles, pain, emotion, and “every little thing human experience that often goes unnoticed.” For him, art is a means of communicating feelings and ideas, and he uses it to share his own with his audience.
Life itself is what inspires him, above all ordinary human experience: the pressure people hold quietly, the toil and struggle of mankind, the pause before a decision, and the strength it takes to keep going. “I begin from an emotion, then find the form that brings it out,” he says. Much of his work comes from emotions and stories that people experience but don’t always talk about, and his own journey through hardship has shaped how he sees the world and how he creates. A simple moment with a person, a conversation, or something he notices about somebody can become the starting point for a work. He wants to turn those moments into visual stories people can connect with, because it matters to him that his audience understands what he is putting out into the world.
His influences begin with Leonardo da Vinci, whose attention to human expression and detail left a mark on him, and Rembrandt, who inspired him through his approach to emotion, portraiture, light, and human storytelling. Vincent van Gogh also shaped the way he tells stories: “What I admire about him is he didn’t allow his own life to separate from his canvas,” Ayomide explains. “His emotion, experience, and the world around him became part of his art as well, and that really resonates with me.” He also names Arinze Stanley, a Nigerian contemporary artist, whose attention to detail resonates with him and is something he says he has learned from.
Ayomide works primarily on canvas, with oil, acrylic, and pencil, and his connection to canvas is personal. He used to hawk fabrics with his mother as a means of survival, which gives the material a deep attachment for him and makes it “very personal to my work.” In his paintings, pencil builds the skin texture while paint handles the rest of the composition, and the red fluid that appears across his work binds these together. Bringing the mediums together, he says, allows him to speak of more than beauty: “It’s about intention, meaning, and representation.”
When creative blocks come, he steps away, visiting art galleries, studios, and workshops, and gives the work time. When he returns, he starts from a single line or a single colour and lets the piece rebuild itself. Remembering his own experiences or other people’s often brings the ideas back, along with the energy to start something meaningful.
If his work could speak, he says, it would say: “Look beyond what you see.” Many of his works carry pain, struggle, hope, and human experience, and he wants viewers to do more than see an image. He wants them to feel its emotion and reflect on the story behind it, creating a moment of connection in which they might find a part of themselves, or someone else, in the work.
Participating in the Anadu Art Fair feels, personally, like a recognition of how far he has come as an artist. He began his journey from a place of struggle, learning and building himself over the years, so showcasing his work on this platform is “very meaningful and important” to him. Professionally, he sees it as a chance to introduce his work to galleries, collectors, and people who genuinely appreciate art, to tell his story through his work, and to build relationships that could open doors beyond Nigeria. It is, he believes, an opportunity that will make a real impact on his career as an artist.
Follow Ayomide’s journey on Instagram: _ayoartcreations
Blog
This section provides an overview of the blog, showcasing a variety of articles, insights, and resources to inform and inspire readers.
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The Red That Runs Through It: Kareem Joseph Ayomide on Pain, Struggle, and Sacrifice in Red
By: Chieloka Anadu Running through nearly every painting by Kareem Joseph Ayomide is a streak…
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When the Familiar Turns Strange: Caroline Braga
By: Chieloka Anadu An image can seem familiar, a body, a dream, a memory, and…
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Garbage to Gold: Abraham Adewole’s Reclaimed Wood
By: Chieloka Anadu What most people call wood garbage, Abraham Adewole sees as “a material…
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