Selected by Kudzanai-Violet Hwami, Sola Olulode’s dreamy Queer visions explore embodiments of British Black Womxn and Non-Binary Folx. Working with various mediums of natural dyeing, batik, wax, ink, pastel, oil bar, and impasto she develops textural canvases that explore the fluidities of identities. Drawing inspiration from lived experience, friends, and cultural reference points to centre Black Queer Womxn, Olulode emphasises the integral need of representation and celebration of queer intimacies.

Speaking about the works on view, the artist says, ‘These paintings come from a body of work that explores the innocence of romance. Sunshine radiates the idea of living in a bubble of new found love and the joy that those giddy emotions bring.’ Her utopian scenes celebrate relationships that transcend crude notions of Queer sexuality, her figures exemplify the warm embrace of queer love, a temporal space to bathe in memories of intimacies abundant with scenes of profoundly deep tender connections. Envisaging a world reflective of the celebration of her own identities Olulode brings to life representation and visibility of Black Queer lived experiences. Her figures represent multifaceted complex individuals and the energy they hold in their bodies relishing in a boundless temporality of self-validation and joy.

Sola Olulode (b.London, 1996) lives and Works in South London. She received a BA in Fine Art Painting from the University of Brighton in 2018. Since graduating she has had a number of solo shows including: von Goetz, Moving in the Bluish Light (2018); Lewisham Art House, Hold My Hand (2019); V.O Curations, Where the Ocean Meets the Beach (2020); and featured in the V&A’s In the Palm of Your Hands (2020). Various group exhibitions include: BBZ BLK BK: Alternative Graduate Show (2018); Twilights of the Idols (2020), Alice Black; Blacklisted: An Indefinite Revolution (2020), Christie’s Education. 2021 An Infinity of Traces. Lisson Gallery. London (2021), Breakfast Under The Tree. Carl Freedman Gallery. Margate, Kent (2021), In Heavenly Blue, Lagos, Nigeria (2021).