Oluuji | Of One’s Own Accord

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Oluuji, "Of One’s Own Accord"

acrylic on canvas. Courtesy of the Gallery.

Of One’s Own Accord is an installation in an ongoing series of paintings revolving around anxieties concerning growth. In this diptych, the subject is sat alone in space(s) separated by the panels, space(s) neither here nor there, with no apparent end in sight, both behind and in front of the subject. The piece seeks to use vast space(s) as a natural element in reverence to the significance and magnificence of space as a fundamental component of universal existence. In the space(s), the subject sits while he stares contemplatively at his reflection in a mirror, as he puts scissors through his hair. Hair represents a significant part of identity as it shapes or reflects aspects of one’s identity, and this is particularly true for people who identify as black. The piece intends to maintain a unifying theme of ambiguity, provoking the viewer to infer a plurality of narratives concerning the scene. Does he cut his hair after or does he not? Why? Is he sitting outside in a lush green field or is he in a hallway? This aims to accentuate the apparent gravity of decisions, ones that initially seem mundane but eventually mean a lot, ones that initially seem particularly impactful but end up somewhat irrelevant, or ones that we are yet to find out just how far their reach goes. These moments of making decisions appear to progressively become more noticeable as we grow into our own selves, start to develop a firm sense of personal identity and seek to carve out our own stories in the short time we’ve been gifted to experience conscious living. 

About the artist:

Aderemilekun Olusoga, also known as 'Oluuji', is a sentient variable of infinite forms experiencing nowness as a moment between both ends of infinity.

He is a self-taught Nigerian visual artist currently living in Canada, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in Neuroscience in 2022. His innate skill and affinity for philosophy, religion and science cultivate a wide array of complex thoughts he communicates most effectively through his art.

Through painting and film, his work explores the ubiquitous nature of binaries, cycles and conventionality in anthropic structures. Examining the dissonance between nostalgia and growth, personal or societal, worldly or spiritual, in a surrealist bid to provoke profundity towards the outwardly mundane.