In a time where individuals are oriented to public self-exposure, Sola Oludode’s natural penchant for intimacy starts in her Marylebone office space at VO Curations. Here, where each studio is contained within glass vitrines, she places her paintings against the walls as a silent tactic to isolate herself from intrusive eyes, connecting with the private moments of inner joy which she vividly portrays in her works. Surrounded by an amalgamation of multiscale canvases, stitched textures and differing materials, this populated setting accommodates Sola’s layered painting approach which becomes her preferred medium to express concepts of gender fluidity. Marrying traits of Yoruba culture coupled with projecting London’s life can be read as an indication of the artist’s core sense of her multicultural upbringing. The predominance of uplifting blues, yellows and browns embraces anyone that sets foot in her studio, spreading a celebratory mood instantly. Sola’s work fulfils her objective of creating a visual black body manifesto and the aesthetic impact of this vision is as explicit as the bold lines that she records through her gestural techniques. Taking a deeper leap into the harmonic cohabitation of colours, movement and tactility in her paintings, one can identify an attachment to simple actions which tend to be overlooked and how precious those usually are when feeding interpersonal relationships. As much as the ordinary occurrences populating Sola’s paintings deserve a deeper exploration, her figures are nothing but advocates of self-love and acceptance which is ultimately manifested through simply owning their individuality in a context of togetherness.
