The Weight they can't see by Flourish Oyinlola
Explore Mondoir Studio
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Dimensions: 15 x 18 in
Year: 2026
Price: $350.00 USD
Status: available
In this painting I explore the invisible physical and emotional burdens many women experience during their monthly cycle. While pain, fatigue, cramps, mood changes, and discomfort are deeply felt, they often remain unseen by others. Yet, despite these challenges, many women continue to work, care for their families, support others, and fulfil their daily responsibilities. The work reflects on the expectation to remain composed and productive even when the body demands rest. The figure’s expression becomes a reflection of both physical discomfort and the emotional weight of having to continue despite it. Beyond the experience of a monthly cycle, the painting speaks to the broader reality of carrying struggles that are not immediately visible. It invites viewers to look beyond outward appearances and consider the unseen experiences that shape women’s everyday lives. This painting is a meditation on empathy, endurance, and the quiet strength required to carry what others cannot see.
Why collect this work?
A honeycomb-like grid covers the figure’s face and neck, turning an intimate portrait into an image of burden distributed across many small, tightly bounded units.
- Oyinlola describes the beehive as a metaphor for women’s strength, resilience and care. Here, that stated concern supports a reading of the repeated cells as endurance, though their dense coverage also suggests pressure.
- In the photograph, the tilted head, raised eyes and closed mouth appear against a vivid yellow field. Small shifts among blue, grey and pale cells interrupt the face without dissolving its steady gaze.
- The documented oil-on-canvas medium permits both crisp pattern and tonal modelling. Highlights around the eyes and lips bring bodily presence forward through the geometric structure rather than outside it.
- The artist identifies menstrual pain and the demand to remain productive as the work’s subject. Encountering the portrait brings an often-private bodily experience into a public language of composure and repetition.
About the Artist
Flourish Oyinlola
Flourish Oyinlola is an artist on Mondoir Studio. Artistic discipline: Visual Artist Geometry pattern | Bee hive 🐝 . Based in Ibadan, NG.
Nationality: Nigerian
My practice explore the connection between nature and humanity, using the beehive as a metaphor for women's strength, resilience, and...
