Crown of Union Ill by Olamilekan Okunade
Explore Mondoir Studio
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Dimensions: 24 x 30 in
Year: 2025
Price: $2350.00 USD
Status: available
Crown of Union This piece celebrates the women who have upheld the spirit of unity in Nigeria, women whose touch not only blesses this great nation but also extends across the African continent and the diaspora. During my research for this series, I was reminded of a mantra I hold dear: “A woman is home.” It reflects the depth of unity found in women who build, nurture, and bring people together. This series is a tribute to all the women in history, past and present, who have fostered harmony in this land we call home. They wear the Crown of Union, representing those who fought tirelessly to bring peace to the very table where we now dine and celebrate.
Why collect this work?
By enlarging the braided profile until hair dominates the composition, this painting shifts portraiture away from facial likeness and toward a constructed emblem of female authority and union.
- Okunade states that the series honours women who have fostered unity in Nigeria and beyond. The painting supports that intention through an upright, crown-like arrangement, though its meaning remains anchored in one carefully differentiated hairstyle.
- In the photograph, the face is mostly withheld. Coils, radiating cornrows, raised loops and one long braid form the principal contours, while rectangular background units reappear across the neck and shoulders, linking figure and field.
- The documented acrylic on canvas allows broad, flattened blocks to sit beside finer linear descriptions of braided strands. This contrast makes the hair legible both as a specific arrangement and as an assertive graphic structure.
- Encountered as a portrait without direct facial access, the work sharpens questions about how identity is carried through culturally specific forms of self-presentation rather than expression alone.
About the Artist
Olamilekan Okunade
Olamilekan Okunade is an artist on Mondoir Studio. Artistic discipline: painting. Based in Nigeria, NG.
Nationality: Nigerian
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