Heritage of Becoming by Olamilekan Okunade
Explore Mondoir Studio
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Dimensions: 42 x 48 in
Year: 2026
Price: $4600.00 USD
Status: available
I met Oluchi again after so many years that she left our neighborhood in Sango Ota, and she is now a tech babe—a successful one. Works at a very high-profile company that runs here and in the diaspora. Why did I document her in this series? I knew Oluchi from the beginning. I knew what other kids and I had access to back then, in the late 90s till early 2000s till we parted ways. Her mom and my own mother were best of friends which automatically makes us friends too, so if I said I knew Oluchi just know it's like I knew the back of my palm standard. I appreciate how she turned out after all the deprived opportunities and access to some level of luxury in life. Oluchi is now a point of contact for me, women have no barrier to whatever they set their mind to do, she singlehandedly does not let her society define her. She makes me proud when I see her again and this prompts me to make this about her and other women who do not allow a deep setback to hold them at a spot for all their lives.
Why collect this work?
In Heritage of Becoming (2026), a block-built portrait links intellectual inheritance with contemporary work, presenting achievement as a process assembled from memory, study and technology.
- The artist’s account identifies the sitter as Oluchi, a childhood acquaintance who later built a technology career. His stated tribute to women’s self-determination clarifies the portrait’s celebratory intent without determining its effect.
- The photograph shows the sitter facing forward between books, a globe and an open laptop. Rectangular colour units cross her face, clothing and surroundings, making the figure distinct while binding her to these instruments of learning and work.
- The catalogue records acrylic on canvas. Here, the medium supports opaque, sharply differentiated patches that model facial features and fabric without dissolving the larger grid.
- The painting is significant for how it updates the library portrait: books and globe remain markers of accumulated knowledge, while the laptop locates professional agency in a networked present.
About the Artist
Olamilekan Okunade
Olamilekan Okunade is an artist on Mondoir Studio. Artistic discipline: painting. Based in Nigeria, NG.
Nationality: Nigerian
Geometry pattern| Constructivism Art| Pixilating Arts| Creating Piece with Acrylic on canvas Co-Founder @sipandpaintyourmentalhealth
