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Ayobola Kekere-Ekun

66 quotes

“There are few things as glaring as dishonest work. If you don’t value your point of view, no one else will. There’s something very humbling or rewarding in people whom I’ve never met, finding a connection with what I have to say.”
Ayobola Kekere-Ekun (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I feel like men take up enough space in the world, she explained. I don’t feel like they need to take up enough space in my head as well.”
Ayobola Kekere-Ekun (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You can tell a lot from a person’s eyes. The eyes offer a mutual vulnerability.”
Ayobola Kekere-Ekun (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I had just found a way to paint without painting.”
Ayobola Kekere-Ekun (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“So I went right back out, and I bought a bunch of paper. Then I cut them up and I just kept rolling them and gluing them to a board just to see what happened. It became a really intense, passionate affair that just morphed into something loving and stable.”
Ayobola Kekere-Ekun (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The work can be difficult to define – is it a craft or an art? It’s something a suburban mum in Arkansas would use to make cards.”
Ayobola Kekere-Ekun (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“But I don’t treat it like a craft. I treat it no differently than if I was sculpting or making an installation. It’s just another way to tell the story.”
Ayobola Kekere-Ekun (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Creating an artwork this way can take her anywhere from two weeks to seven months, depending on the size and scope of the piece. The process usually starts with a sketch, before eventually becoming a “skeleton” of its future incarnation.”
Ayobola Kekere-Ekun (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I find a good way to describe it is that I’m building a jigsaw puzzle, but I can see where it ends, I just call it lines on steroids.”
Ayobola Kekere-Ekun (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I think I was drowning because I’ve spent my entire life internalizing everything that has ever happened to me.”
Ayobola Kekere-Ekun (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I think therapy 100% saved my life.”
Ayobola Kekere-Ekun (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There used to be this very stereotypical perception of what Nigerian arts could look like. If it was more abstract, they would be some masks. If it was more figurative, there would be a market scene, or a lady fetching water. Now, there’s a lot more nuance.”
Ayobola Kekere-Ekun (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“All artists should stay true to themselves.”
Ayobola Kekere-Ekun (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There are few things as glaring as dishonest work. If you don’t value your point of view, no one else will.”
Ayobola Kekere-Ekun (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There’s something very humbling or rewarding in people whom I’ve never met, finding a connection with what I have to say.”
Ayobola Kekere-Ekun (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Yes! It’s so much better being able to actually speak to another person. I guess I could have answered your questions via email, but I think school has kind of fucked writing up for me a little bit. The process of writing my thesis has soured a lot of things for me. So like, writing doesn't feel as pleasurable anymore, because my brain always processes it as a work activity now. Even when it's not work.”
Ayobola Kekere-Ekun (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I find myself gravitating towards what I call ‘bubble-gum books’. Nothing heavy, nothing super intellectual. Nothing that won a prize, or was, you know, shortlisted for some prestigious award. I want like the smarmy historical romances.”
Ayobola Kekere-Ekun (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You have to wrench that power back! Otherwise it’ll ruin reading for you. So I've read everything Susan Elizabeth Phillips has written. Julia Quinn. Julia London. Almost all the Julias really. They tend to have nice books. Courtney Milan, Gaelen Foley, Jennifer Ashley. The list is long. There's so many of them. And then I tend to fall down rabbit holes because they’re usually a series of books. So I’ll read one book, wonder what happened to a particular character, and then find out they have their own book and immediately start reading that. It’s the best thing, really.”
Ayobola Kekere-Ekun (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I like what you've done. And for someone so young, you've done some really interesting things. I think you have a really bright future. Success like friends. Why wouldn't I want to get on that train?!”
Ayobola Kekere-Ekun (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I think of my career as an open world video game with a hint of chess. If you were to strip it down to its absolute core, it really is a series of validations. The quality and nature of validation you want/need depends on what arena of the art world you're interested in playing in. But it's the kind of space where you just need a few yeses. Just a couple of yeses. The hard part is getting them in the first place. When you have the right yeses, you'll be fine. It's like needing someone to jumpstart your car.”
Ayobola Kekere-Ekun (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I think we do live in a fucked-up world, but it can also be a pretty cool world. I think we also underestimate people's capacity to be kind and generous, sometimes. And then also, don't underestimate the value that you bring as well to the table.”
Ayobola Kekere-Ekun (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Like, it’s not an easy career. I could have been an accountant. It would have sucked and I’d be bored and miserable! It would probably be easier. But here I am.”
Ayobola Kekere-Ekun (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Yes… I mean, the first piece I made was for my first degree. We didn't have like a final exhibition. Not in the traditional sense where everyone had their own individual exhibitions. We had a group exhibition where you had to contribute. The piece you put in was supposed to be the accumulation of the four years you had spent doing the degree, which now I think about it, that’s a lot of pressure!”
Ayobola Kekere-Ekun (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“And so I started experimenting. I didn't know what I was doing with that first piece, I just knew it was gonna go really well or really badly. And so I started it in school, then we went on holiday and got kicked out of student housing. I had to go home and take the piece home because I wasn't done with it. And my parents were just obsessed! I would like walk into my little makeshift studio in some corner of the living room, and my dad would be there or my mum would be there just looking at it. You know? And the question was always the same. How? How did you start? How did you know?”
Ayobola Kekere-Ekun (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The highest praise my Mum’s ever giving anything is “this is nice”. But she was just so taken by this new work! And I think I think that was what signalled to me that maybe this really was something special. I knew I had found something very interesting that I enjoyed and I was curious about but I think the reaction my parents had made it externally real, you know, as opposed to just internally.”
Ayobola Kekere-Ekun (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Before that my work was purely design. It was purely, you know, marketing and advertising 100%. Being a studio artist was never something that had been on my radar. My plan had been to finish school, start working in an ad agency, take over the world. But everything completely shifted when I finished the first piece.”
Ayobola Kekere-Ekun (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I don't know what would have happened if I had never gotten that flyer. I don't know what would have happened if I had folded instead of rolling it. You know, it was a really, really really random discovery!”
Ayobola Kekere-Ekun (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I do not. She legally belonged to the school, because she was an exam piece. So technically, she wasn't mine. So I never got to actually keep her.”
Ayobola Kekere-Ekun (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Maximalist. Playful. The other one that's coming to me is deceptive, but I don't want to say deceptive. It's apt but the connotations aren't quite appropriate. Because my work is like a bait and switch, it really kind of tricks you. I'm gonna say layered instead. Final answer, layered.”
Ayobola Kekere-Ekun (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I think the worst thing I learned how to do is how to snooze my emails because I do it way too often. But whenever I haven't gotten an email in like two hours, I'll send an email to myself to make sure it works!”
Ayobola Kekere-Ekun (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Oh I know! If it’s gonna be like an admin day then I'm updating my mailing list, updating my archive, working on proposals, searching for new opportunities, updating my artist statement, figuring out if I'm ready to tweak my website again, doing my books… all the things that come up basically running a business really.”
Ayobola Kekere-Ekun (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I did not! When I watch stuff, I'm so not a critic. Like for me to say a movie is bad, it was horrendously bad. I don't watch movies tv to critique them to death. I just I want to be somewhere else. I'm not looking for like, plot holes or implausible things. I actively shut down my brain from looking for twists and stuff. I rarely see what's coming. And I love it that way.”
Ayobola Kekere-Ekun (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In the evenings, I tend to read. I enjoy doing random research, like really random research. The last thing I searched last night was if you could take your multivitamins at night! I take walks. I walk every evening. And my new life's mission is to befriend all my neighbours’ cat. It's going pretty well. I have four favourites so far and I’ve named them all, Louise, Toothless, Void and Chonky. I also watch movies, series, you know, normal deactivate your brain type stuff.”
Ayobola Kekere-Ekun (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When I was younger, my dream was always to live a life where I would wake up, and do whatever I wanted. And for the most part, I'm already living that life. I think that's a big part of what keeps my life going. It's a big part of what drives my practice. I'm doing exactly what I wanted to do, how I want to do it. I'm saying exactly what I want to say how I want to say it without compromising my vision or intention. It's something to be grateful for. I would say that freedom, that sense of freedom, is my fuel. Freedom to explore the world on my own terms.”
Ayobola Kekere-Ekun (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“So I think the issue starts to come up when you’re not honest with yourself about those distinctions and how you are willing to engage with them. What your limitations are, as well. And you know, how you can correct for them. It's a weird business. It's a weird business, but even at my most bogged down, miserable, you know, even when I'm stretched thin, and I've scheduled one too many things, I have one too many deadlines. I can't, I cannot literally think of anything else I'd rather be doing. Like I literally cannot picture myself doing anything. What on earth would I be doing?”
Ayobola Kekere-Ekun (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Yes. Your degrees are printed on it. Money is printed on it. It’s what you’d distract a toddler with or wedge a table with. You know, it's so universal it’s a great Trojan horse quite frankly. Because everyone is familiar with it in some form, or the other. But it's boring and universal enough that you never actually give it a second thought.”
Ayobola Kekere-Ekun (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“What unifies them? I think it's subverting expectation, you know, it's that bait and switch, The physicality, the visual nature or visual identity of my work. It's like a bit of a trick. Because you see the work in one way; they are pretty bright, colourful, it's just a pretty picture. It's just something fun to look at. And the more you engage with it. That is when you start to realise I'm not necessarily saying anything happy, or pleasant, or fun, you know.”
Ayobola Kekere-Ekun (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It's a bait and switch. Yes. I think it's a bit like going to therapy. And when you have your aha moments, it’s followed by Oh my God! What else? What else have I been missing? It’s kind of like that. I think from time to time, everyone should be encouraged to reconsider what they think they know. We are trained, especially in the world we live in now, we are trained to come to swift conclusions without being very critical of how we got there.”
Ayobola Kekere-Ekun (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There is. There's always a chance I might never see them again. And I do have quite a few pieces that I haven’t seen since they left. And I do think about them, like are they happy?”
Ayobola Kekere-Ekun (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Also, I mean, at the risk of psychoanalysing that's also a way to protect yourself, and your ability to make more work. At the risk of sounding cliché, there’s a price to pay for creating. It is a give and take, but I think its human nature and dwell on what you've lost. But I do think the work definitely gives back to you, at least it does to me.”
Ayobola Kekere-Ekun (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The key is being intentional about actively recognising what you are getting back otherwise you're gonna learn to turn bitter and not allow yourself to be vulnerable. You will compromise something and I think one of my biggest fears is breaking what makes my practice my practice, because I still don't know what it is. And as much as I don't mind, the occasional gamble, the soul of my practice isn’t something I'm willing to fuck with.”
Ayobola Kekere-Ekun (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I think the glint is the physical activation of the rest of the intuition that went into the work. An expression of my inability to explain why I’ve made certain choices, while knowing they were the right choices to make.”
Ayobola Kekere-Ekun (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I'm perfectly fine with never figuring out what it is. Because, it’s a matter of what ifs. What if understanding those intangible qualities or variables that make my work what it is gives the power to actively shape my practice? But what if knowing the tangibility of the intangible compromises the spirit of the work? It's a bit a bit of a Pandora's box type thing. Like, it could be hella cool. But it could also not.”
Ayobola Kekere-Ekun (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“They’re alive! Yeah, I mean, I know when the work is complete. Before I even start, I know the end. I think if I if my process was more open ended, I'd still be making my first piece. I'd never finished. I'm not gonna set myself up like that. I know who I am.”
Ayobola Kekere-Ekun (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It's a box frame, like glass or perspex. It’s really important to keep people's fingers away from the pieces. That’s a downside to the what am I looking at reaction. The instinctive reaction is to touch what you’re trying to understand.”
Ayobola Kekere-Ekun (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Maybe they're a combination of all the women I've known and all the women I wish I knew. Except for newest body of work where I'm drawing on my family's history. Those pieces feel far more personal.”
Ayobola Kekere-Ekun (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“My sister has this theory that I'm making a self-portrait over and over again. But I've told her she's not a critic or historian, so I don’t have to listen to her to her. If she gets her theory publishes, then I'll take her seriously.”
Ayobola Kekere-Ekun (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A bit. This new body of work is very personal and therapeutic. It's like the next stage for me after two years of therapy so far. It's like a positive pain. Llike exercising your body. It hurts, but you know, it's also making things better. I think that's how I’d describe it.”
Ayobola Kekere-Ekun (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Yeah, yeah. I mean, I am a little healthier now in the sense that I keep the work out of my bedroom. This is something I just started like literally like two months ago. It was a matter of, I love you but I need some space.”
Ayobola Kekere-Ekun (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I have no loyalty in music a bop is a bop. So my general shuffle play is quite varied. Sometimes I'd rather like listen to a series or movie I've already seen so I just watch it in my head. From time to time, I’ll listen to stand-up comedy.”
Ayobola Kekere-Ekun (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source