Saudade by Olumide Ajayi
Explore Mondoir Studio
Medium: Ink and Acrylic on Canvas
Dimensions: 24 x 24 in
Year: 2026
Price: $1200.00 USD
Status: available
I still drift back to that endless, sun-drenched afternoon. The world was quiet then, reduced to just the two of us on the edge of the hill. I remember how she knelt to meet my gaze, her touch a silent anchor against the vast, unfolding sky. Above us, the birds swept by like fleeting thoughts, promises of a future she was preparing me to fly into. We were just silhouettes against the warm, dusty earth, but in that quiet space, I felt entirely safe. The sun has long set on those years, and her hand is no longer here to steady me. Yet, whenever the world grows too cold, I close my eyes and return to this soft, sepia memory. I am still that child, and she is still my horizon even though she’s no longer with me
Why collect this work?
A kneeling adult and standing child form a dark, connected silhouette, while scattered words, birds and ring motifs make recollection appear discontinuous rather than fully recoverable.
- Ajayi states that his paintings address less obvious feelings and the passage of time. Here, that concern is legible in the contrast between a stable bodily bond and dispersed signs of memory.
- In the photograph, the figures meet through an extended arm at the composition’s centre. Handwritten phrases including “my mama,” “memory,” “2006” and “felt safe” locate the scene within personal remembrance, while the open ground keeps its narrative incomplete.
- The documented ink and acrylic on canvas support two distinct registers: broad, opaque silhouettes and finer lines used for lettering, contours and airborne birds. Their separation gives remembered language a lighter visual presence than the bodies.
- Dated 2026 and measuring 24 by 24 inches in the catalogue, Saudade is especially useful for considering how autobiographical specificity can coexist with anonymous figures, balancing private testimony against a broadly readable image of care and absence.
About the Artist
Olumide Ajayi
Olumide Ajayi is an artist on Mondoir Studio. Artistic discipline: Painter. Mixed Media. Based in Ibadan, NG.
Nationality: Nigerian
My work seeks to embrace complex feelings, giving them a canvas to breathe, shift, and resonate.
