Adulphina Imuede is a creative based in Lagos, Nigeria. Her art is stylised, surreal, and sometimes experimental. She described it as being a reflection of her thoughts and who she is. Her works are very feminine too and allow every woman, no matter her age or skin hue, to identify with a character. Under the condition of believing in every day miracles and romantic.
Adulphina’s paintings have been exhibited across the globe. Some of her past exhibitions include: ART x Lagos 6th edition fair; “Locality and The Status Quo” Group Exhibition – Pacers Gallery, Lagos; “The Human Experience” Group Exhibition by The Project Space – Gallery Fanon, Johannesburg and “I Love Who You Are, I Love Who You Ain’t” Group Exhibition – Bill Brady Gallery, Miami.
Ever since I was a child I always had an interest in art and craft. I remember taking art classes in primary and secondary school and there were times where I was the only student in the class, then the only girl in the class, I didn’t let that sway my love and interest. That was the beginning of my artistic journey.
I think every artist has and does what works best for them at different points in their life and career. It’s all about being able to express oneself however that translates to the artist. For me it’s writing, journaling (or morning pages according to Julia Cameron) drawing, the thought process of making a sketch, of making art. My characters are born from curiosity, exaggeration and minimalistic drawing.
They represent the wide-eyed wonder and curiosity of a child and my inner child. My inner child is an important part of my creativity, she lets me dream and be whimsical. I’m happy to be able to translate that for young children and adults alike.
Yes for sure. I know it’s something I want and would love to explore and improve on with my drawings and also incorporate into my work.
My art teacher in senior secondary school and my mum made me feel safe with my creativity and early stages of my creativity. This influenced my decision and confidence to become an artist. Artists who influence me include Audrey Kawasaki I think her work is amazing, Richard Powell and Florian Nicolle just to name a few.
They most definitely are interconnected. When I do deep work within myself I feel creativity flows with ease and so does writing and poetry, two sides of the same coin in my opinion. One of my favourite affirmation is “my creative potential is endless”
Phases and Faces was my second solo in Lagos, Nigeria and it was a blessing, I say this because I fully understood how spiritual and intimate creating is in my life. Every piece from the show was a phase of my life. I wanted to highlight how we all go through phases in life and react uniquely.
A lot has changed and is changing, it’s refreshing to see and be a part of it. People are becoming passionate in expressing themselves and exploring different ways to achieve that, challenging status quos. For female creatives there have been changes and there is change but I don’t think that it’s as fast-paced in comparison to male artists when it comes to equal opportunities and exchange, I feel it’s more of an 80/20 ratio instead of a 50/50 one sometimes I wonder if it’s because of cultural and social gender biases implanted in most of us. In summary, female creatives need more encouragement and opportunities than they need to be told to get married and start a family, the world is populated enough and I think we can see that from global warming, plastic waste and climate change.
