Ore Adedeji

O Adedeji is an artist based in London, England. Three concepts guide the creative process of O.D Adedeji: heritage, legacy and contribution. As a portrait artist of Nigerian descent, she incorporates her heritage and cultural background into her artworks to reveal the beauty and dynamism of Nigerian culture to new audiences. Each artwork is intent on raising awareness for the African diaspora. Within this, Adedeji’s work therefore recognises how this community is often underrepresented in institutions founded upon the exclusion of people based upon race and cultural heritage. Many of the historical pieces of art feature people from the African diaspora as props or additions but rarely as the main subject of beauty, and through her art she aims to show black beauty in a different light.

The series is titled “Reveal yourself”. They were born out of the idea to include multiple perspectives of the face or emotions on one canvas.  These portraits allude to the part of ourselves that wants to remain hidden from outside influence and other people’s perception or judgement of who we really are. The perception of facial features is known to be an important part of social cognition, that is said to help people understand each other’s identity, what they are feeling, how one can anticipate actions and recognise their emotions. By leaving parts of the face abstracted i chose to protect the figures true nature from the viewer. But it is human nature to seek people who are open about who they are and stand firm in that because it allows us to find the characteristics that we can relate to, thus creating a sense of “closeness” to that person. We want people to reveal themselves to us and we crave that closeness hence the title “Reveal Yourself”.