Ànìké — The Gift We Cherished by Iyanuoluwa Babalola
Explore Mondoir Studio
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 45.72 x 60.96 cm
Year: 2026
Price: $800.00 USD
Status: available
Ànìké — The Gift We Cherished is inspired by my younger sister, the only daughter and last-born of five children. After having four sons, my parents had almost given up on having a daughter, but her arrival brought a special kind of joy into our family. She became deeply cherished by our parents and protected by her four brothers, especially me, the brother closest to her in age. As part of my ongoing Oríkì Series, this painting explores how names carry personal histories, love, identity, and belonging. Through expressive portraiture, my blue tonal-breaking technique, and symbolic fruit adornments inspired by my cultural roots in Fiditi, I translate her story into a visual expression of love, gratitude, and family connection. I hope viewers reflect on the people who have made them feel wanted, valued, and protected, and recognise that behind some names are stories of longing, unexpected blessings, and a lifetime of love.
Why collect this work?
Two outsized pear ornaments bracket the sitter’s face, making adornment carry the painting’s central tension between an individual likeness and a family’s cherished image of her.
- Babalola identifies the sitter as his younger sister and places the painting within his Oríkì Series. In his account, her name and portrait preserve a family history of longing, affection and belonging.
- The photograph shows a frontal figure whose dark, radiating hairstyle spreads across the beige field. Bright blue facial passages, paired pears and layered necklaces establish a near-symmetry, while the sideways gaze resists the composition’s ceremonial stillness.
- The documented oil-on-canvas medium permits sharp graphic silhouettes alongside modulated facial colour and pinpoint highlights. Here, those contrasting modes separate the body from the ground while giving the face greater visual complexity than its surrounding emblems.
- The work provides a concrete case for considering how portraiture can define someone through kinship as well as appearance. The pears’ scale makes that question visible without assigning them a fixed symbolic meaning.
About the Artist
Iyanuoluwa Babalola
Iyanuoluwa Babalola is an artist on Mondoir Studio. Artistic discipline: Painting/ Acrylic and on Canvas. Based in Lagos, NG.
Nationality: Nigerian
My art explores healing, identity, cultural memory, and moral consciousness through expressive painting and visual storytelling.
