Artist of the Week – Renike Olusanya

POSTED IN Art, Art history, Culture, Drawing, Drawn art, Illustration

By Tobijulo Onifade

Early 2015, a friend of mine and I decided to attend a PTNA (Paint the Night Africa) event at Terra Kulture where we had to paint a village scene. The company had just started off in Lagos, Nigeria and so there were a few of us there. I remember my friend sat at the end of a long table, I sat next to her and to my right was a young lady with a gold (coloured) cute Afro. It was clear that the 3 of us were creatives/ artists because we clearly had a mind of our own at the event. We followed the instructor’s advice but did things our own way and came up with different results. What struck me about the lady on my right was that compared to my friend and me, she (mostly) followed the instructor’s rules (compared to us) but used different colours and the end result of her work was breathtaking. After the event, my friend and I decided to chill and look at the art at the Terra Kulture gallery and on our way down; the young lady with the cute Afro came up to me and introduced herself. She told me her name and age, mentioned she was an Art student at UNILAG, and if I remember correctly mentioned that this was one of the few times she had done something in colour as she preferred working with a different medium and monochrome painting (black and white). I was shocked at this point because she was so young and was already painting like a pro. She showed me examples of her work, I did the same, we exchanged numbers and said goodbye. This young lady that I had a brief encounter with at Terra Kulture is whom we know as Renike (Morenike) Olusanya.

 

ASIYAMI GOLD
The image was got from @iamrenike on Instagram

 

Renike Olusanya is a recent graduate of the University of Lagos with a degree (with Honours) in Visual Arts. She comes from a family of talent according to an interview with the Breakfast club Nigeria. Her father is a Painter and her elder brother is an Architect. She discovered her love for Art in secondary school and decided to study Visual Arts at University, although she was (and still is) interested in Interior Design. She had a preferred medium and style of work (black and white) but is now fully invested in the use of colours. She is very skilled in various styles of creating art such as doodling/mandalas, realism and abstract but prefers abstract art as it gives her the room to be creative and not just imitate what she sees.

 

Image from @iamrenike on Instagram

 

Image from @iamrenike on Instagram

 

She is well known for her digital art, which her supervisor introduced her to in the 3rd year of University Victor Orji. She is also trained in the art of Graphic Design, which is her 9-5. She has been featured in different publications like Farabale, Youth Central and many more and is not just known for her talents but also a strong supporter and encourager of females in Art).

 

Image from @iamrenike on Instagram

 

Looking through Renike’s Instagram page it is clear to see that she is on a path to greatness. From the time I met her 2015 till now, it is clear there is a progression in her style and she has expanded her self and her work from doing book covers and commissions to even transferring her Art to different surfaces such as phone cases and more. Still, in her 20’s, it is clear that she definitely has more to offer and I for one cannot wait to see her manifest her skills and talents as time goes by.

To see more of Renike Olusanya’s work, visit her Art635 page

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