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Ayanfe Olarinde

@ayanfee__

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Unclogging my thoughts, one painting at a time…
LET THE KID PAINT
📧 [email protected]

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The Metamorphosis collectibles began as my little experiment on vessels carrying the same questions my paintings have always asked: of change, memory, and becoming. Each one was made by hand, each one its own story. 20 one-of-one pieces collected across the globe.

It’s a beautiful feeling knowing they’ve found homes of their own. Thank you to every collector, every home that welcomed one in and everyone who believed in this body of work from the very beginning.

I’m grateful to say that every piece from the first phase of Metamorphosis has now sold out.

As one chapter closes, another begins. Phase II is already taking shape and I can’t wait for you to see what’s coming.

Lately its felt like I’ve been split between earth and canvas. Making these alongside a new body of paintings has felt like the studio speaking two languages at once.

Grateful to make works that holds space as much as it holds form.

Stay with me.
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📸 @bamivisuals
Edited @un.earthical by @ayanfee__

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4 days ago

July’s edition of the GIDA Library has been curated by Ayanfe Olarinde (@ayanfee__), a self-taught multidisciplinary artist whose journey began with scribbling raw, impulsive marks born from moments of restlessness, introspection, and emotional overflow.

Approaching art as both a mirror and a map, Olarinde’s work is driven by an ongoing exploration of identity, self-image, mental landscapes, vulnerability, and the fluid nature of becoming.

For her selections, the former GIDA Vol. I contributor highlights references that have shaped her approach to constructing multi-sensory narratives. Wangechi Mutu’s Yo Mama (2003) reveals, for Olarinde, how the body can be many things at once: a landscape, a battleground, a vessel for memory, and a site of transformation. Julie Taymor’s Frida (2002) demonstrates how vulnerability can be a powerful creative tool, showing that emotional truth often reveals itself most clearly through metaphor.

Also featured are the striking photographs of Philip Kwame Apagya, which redefine imagery as both document and fiction, alongside West African sonic influences such as Afro-jazz and Tuareg music from the North, which have inspired moments of stillness throughout her creative process.

Subscribe to our newsletter via the link in our bio to explore Ayanfe Olarinde’s full list of curations. 💌 by @ayanfee__

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10 days ago

A Whisper Returns, 2026
Ink, acrylic, oil pastels, screeded linen cut outs on canvas
1 x 1ft

_____________

In these works, figures move through a world in quiet transformation, each figure carrying her own rhythm of sowing, protecting, risking, and harvesting.
The greens around them are the pulse of change itself, at once tender and relentless.
The scenes echo stories told by ancestors, where the passage from one season to the next is both a trial and a promise.

There is no certainty in the turning of days, yet the act of tending, venturing and of trusting the unseen, carries its own reward. These beings inhabit that threshold, negotiating the tension between fear and growth also between restraint and joy.

This collection focuses more on journey than arrival: the almost invisible labor of becoming, the quiet courage in choices that shift a life’s course and the moments when change ripens into beauty.
There is also a quiet pull towards folklore as an underlying intention where transformation is often tied to simple, repeated acts. In this context, happiness is not an outcome, and so the story is not of arrival but of passage, something that appears within the cycle itself.
A kind of happiness lives there.

I’ve been thinking about how stories are carried, lost, and reshaped over time, and how I might contribute to that continuity. These pieces feel like small offerings toward creating new visual languages that still echo something inherited that can be received and reinterpreted by a newer generation.
_________________

#ayanfeolarinde #collageart #contemporaryart #scribble #jagaism by @ayanfee__

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2 months ago

During my spare time, I’ve found myself enjoying the quieter parts of making.
The moments after finishing bigger works, when there’s no pressure attached to creating anything monumental. I started spending that time making small things with my hands. Little wares, miniature sculptures, playful experiments & collectible objects basically. Things that feel personal, functional and calming to create.

A lot of these pieces were inspired by forms, emotions and details from my “Metamorphosis” series paintings, almost like tiny extensions of that world finding their way into everyday objects.

I’ve always loved interiors, quirky stuff, furniture, colors and objects that quietly live with people in their everyday spaces. And I’ve always loved to play too. So somewhere along the line, playing and making started becoming the same thing for me.

So I decided to give that feeling a home.
Playground by Ayanfe <3

A small space for the things I make when I let loose a little.

These pieces are now available in very limited quantities via DM/email for now. I’ll be sharing a link to the online store in a few days, where I’ll be putting out even more of my creations. A space for collectors, or anyone who has ever wanted to own a piece by me, to finally collect one.

#ayanfeolarinde #ayanfeolarindeart #artcollectibles #ceramics by @ayanfee__

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2 months ago

The Rite of Severing, 2026
Ink, acrylic, oil pastels, screeded linen cut outs on canvas
3 x 4ft

_____________

In these works, figures move through a world in quiet transformation, each figure carrying her own rhythm of sowing, protecting, risking, and harvesting.
The greens around them are the pulse of change itself, at once tender and relentless.
The scenes echo stories told by ancestors, where the passage from one season to the next is both a trial and a promise.

There is no certainty in the turning of days, yet the act of tending, venturing and of trusting the unseen, carries its own reward. These beings inhabit that threshold, negotiating the tension between fear and growth also between restraint and joy.

This collection focuses more on journey than arrival: the almost invisible labor of becoming, the quiet courage in choices that shift a life’s course and the moments when change ripens into beauty.
There is also a quiet pull towards folklore as an underlying intention where transformation is often tied to simple, repeated acts. In this context, happiness is not an outcome, and so the story is not of arrival but of passage, something that appears within the cycle itself.
A kind of happiness lives there.

I’ve been thinking about how stories are carried, lost, and reshaped over time, and how I might contribute to that continuity. These pieces feel like small offerings toward creating new visual languages that still echo something inherited that can be received and reinterpreted by a newer generation.
_________________

#ayanfeolarinde #collageart #contemporaryart #scribble #jagaism by @ayanfee__

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3 months ago

Feels like a breath of fresh air

“Another day” by @thee_sehb 🎶

#ayanfeolarinde #contemporaryart #jagaism #reel #collageart by @ayanfee__

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3 months ago

The Seedkeeper, 2026
Ink, acrylic, oil pastels, screeded linen cut outs, painted canvas on linen
4 x 5ft

_______________

In these works, figures move through a world in quiet transformation, each figure carrying her own rhythm of sowing, protecting, risking, and harvesting.
The greens around them are the pulse of change itself, at once tender and relentless.
The scenes echo stories told by ancestors, where the passage from one season to the next is both a trial and a promise.

There is no certainty in the turning of days, yet the act of tending, venturing and of trusting the unseen, carries its own reward. These beings inhabit that threshold, negotiating the tension between fear and growth also between restraint and joy.

This collection focuses more on journey than arrival: the almost invisible labor of becoming, the quiet courage in choices that shift a life’s course and the moments when change ripens into beauty.
There is also a quiet pull towards folklore as an underlying intention where transformation is often tied to simple, repeated acts. In this context, happiness is not an outcome, and so the story is not of arrival but of passage, something that appears within the cycle itself.
A kind of happiness lives there.

I’ve been thinking about how stories are carried, lost, and reshaped over time, and how I might contribute to that continuity. These pieces feel like small offerings toward creating new visual languages that still echo something inherited that can be received and reinterpreted by a newer generation.
_________________

Currently on view @o.da_art
Exhibition closes 25th of April

#ayanfeolarinde #contemporaryartwork #collage #scribble #contemporaryart taken in ODA Art Gallery by @ayanfee__

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3 months ago

Before it made sense… by @ayanfee__

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3 months ago

The Vigil (Metamorphosis)
Ink, acrylic, oil pastels, screeded linen cut outs on canvas
3 x 4ft
2026
_____________

In these works, figures move through a world in quiet transformation, each figure carrying her own rhythm of sowing, protecting, risking, and harvesting.
The greens around them are the pulse of change itself, at once tender and relentless.
The scenes echo stories told by ancestors, where the passage from one season to the next is both a trial and a promise.

There is no certainty in the turning of days, yet the act of tending, venturing and of trusting the unseen, carries its own reward. These beings inhabit that threshold, negotiating the tension between fear and growth also between restraint and joy.

This collection focuses more on journey than arrival: the almost invisible labor of becoming, the quiet courage in choices that shift a life’s course and the moments when change ripens into beauty.
There is also a quiet pull towards folklore as an underlying intention where transformation is often tied to simple, repeated acts. In this context, happiness is not an outcome, and so the story is not of arrival but of passage, something that appears within the cycle itself.
A kind of happiness lives there.

I’ve been thinking about how stories are carried, lost, and reshaped over time, and how I might contribute to that continuity. These pieces feel like small offerings toward creating new visual languages that still echo something inherited that can be received and reinterpreted by a newer generation.
_________________

Currently on view @o.da_art

#ayanfeolarinde #contemporaryartwork #collage #scribble #jagaism by @ayanfee__

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4 months ago

Some things I made at the Harmattan Workshop

The workshop earlier this year came at a time when I really needed to be around process again.
Making, playing with materials and figuring things out without overthinking it. It was less about producing perfect works and more about staying open, asking questions, and letting things develop naturally. The environment itself made that easier for me. It felt very grounding and calm. Being close to nature helped my mind in a way I hadn’t felt in a while, and I found myself more present with the work and with everything around me.

What made the experience more meaningful was the presence of our facilitator @chris.klay
He met us with a kind of patience that’s rare. There was no hierarchy in the way he taught cause he saw us as equals (students), he listened deeply, and gave direction without ever imposing. He created space for us to find our own voices, while still guiding us with intention and care. You could feel that he genuinely wanted us to grow, as ceramists.

I left the workshop feeling both full and empty. I was full from everything I had taken in and empty in a way that made space for something new. It shifted how I approach making, and reminded me of the value of slowing down and really listening. taken in Agbarha-Otor by @ayanfee__

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4 months ago

HAPPY - Ayanfe Olarinde

Ayanfe Olarinde (1996) is a self-taught multidisciplinary visual artist whose practice spans drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, collage, sound, and digital media. A graduate of the University of Lagos with a BSc BSc in Microbiology (2018), Olarinde built an artistic language rooted in lived experience, improvisation, and the expressive force of instinct.

Her journey into art began with scribbling, raw, impulsive marks born from moments of restlessness, introspection, or emotional overflow. What began as a spontaneous childhood gesture evolved into a defining visual language: a physical release, a grounding ritual, and a method of processing the internal noise of a neurodivergent mind. For Olarinde, scribbling is a psychological and emotional practice, an intimate tool for navigating thoughts, isolating from overwhelming environments, and accessing deeper layers of selfhood.

Across mediums, her work is driven by an ongoing exploration of identity, self-image, mental landscapes, vulnerability, and the fluid nature of becoming. She approaches art as both mirror and map. An evolving documentation of an inner journey that resists linearity. Her pieces often sit in the tension between chaos and control, clarity and fragmentation, presence and dissociation, reflecting how she experiences, interprets, and processes the world…

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Opening: Saturday, April 4th 2026 | 1:00 - 6:00 PM
Address: 10 Sir Samuel Manuwa Street, Victoria Island, Lagos.

#exhibitions #contemporaryafricanart #odaart #happy taken in ODA Art Gallery by @ayanfee__

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4 months ago

Throwback to seeing “Aeroplani Odabo I & II” from my Yoruba Folklore series “In The Beginning And So It Goes…” on the walls of Musée Rath, Geneva, Switzerland 🇨🇭
Presented with the @cbh_artcollection at @mahgeneve through @jdmalatgallery
An honor to have been hung alongside such iconic artists.

Exhibition opened October 16- Nov 2025 with the space transformed and photographed by the renowned @pierre.yovanovitch taken in Geneva Switzerland by @ayanfee__

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4 months ago