Ayọ̀délé — “Joy Has Come Home” by Iyanuoluwa Babalola

Medium: Acrylic on Canvas

Dimensions: 20 x 30 in

Year: 2026

Price: $800.00 USD

Status: available

In this piece, I explore joy not as something we chase, but as something we return to. Rooted in the cultural memory of Fiditi, known as the Land of Fruits, the figure becomes a living landscape. The fruits are not placed around her; they grow from her symbolizing nourishment, abundance, and the quiet healing that comes from reconnecting with one’s origin. The repeated fruit forms and mango earring extend this idea of identity—what we carry, and what we become. This work is part of an ongoing Oríkì (praise-name) series, where each piece draws from Yoruba names as vessels of memory, identity, and emotional experience. At its core, Ayọ̀délé speaks to the experience of return. The gentle smile reflects a quiet, inward realization a moment where joy is no longer searched for, but rediscovered. In a world shaped by displacement, emotional fatigue, and cultural disconnection, this piece offers a counter-narrative: that joy can always find its way back home softly, like memory, or gradually, like fruit ripening in its season.