Aisha Olamide Seriki

About

I am a multimedia artist, specialising in fine art photography, and sculpture. My work delves into the intricate relationship between historical narratives and contemporary realities, utilising the past as a method to comprehend and communicate present-day existence. My practice questions the camera’s historic association as a vessel of truth, by using 19th Spiritualist Photography, Surrealism, and 20th-century mirror trick photography, to challenge photography’s attachment with truth and time. I draw inspiration from a combination of imagination and personal experiences, and through carefully staged photographs, I endeavour to visualise a holistic conception of being, that challenges the colonial imagination of self. 

I am concerned with the photograph as a haptic object, this inquiry has expanded my practice beyond photography, through the exploration of materiality and sculpture. Cosmological systems such as the Yoruba Spiritual Tradition have informed my multisensory approach to documentation, communication and creation. The integration of spatial elements into my practice builds on my refusal to conceive of photography as a solely visual experience and my sculptural practice aims to encourage a slow and embodied viewing, where the audience’s spectatorship becomes the final process of activating my work. Through my public engagement work, I want to initiate communal creative caring spaces which allow for introspection, rethinking, and relearning

Orí Inú takes from the Yoruba Metaphysical conception “Orí’ which translates to the head and refers to one’s spiritual destiny. Followers of the Yoruba Spiritual tradition ‘Ifa’ believe that all humans pick their spiritual destiny (‘Orí) before entering the world. Orí is one’s personal ‘god’ which follows us through the ups and downs of life, and by working on ourselves both spiritually and physically we can heal ourselves and obtain alignment with our destiny. Using the calabash as a metaphor, Orí Inú depicts my attempts to mend the break between my mind and spirit and realign my destiny. There are no markers of the natural world, to represent my inner consciousness. Orí Inú attempts to show that reconnecting with one’s inner spirit is a continuous endeavour and is a condition of the human experience.

By incorporating optical illusions and tricks within the photographs through the use of mirroring, Orí Inú questions the camera’s historic association as a vessel of truth, challenging colonial understandings of the black body. Stimulated by this history, a series of bronze comb sculptures (Iyarun) containing miniature photographs are in conversation with the larger prints. This is informed by the comb’s relationship with African diasporan histories, where it surpasses functionality to become a cultural symbol of empowerment, ritual and self-care, while simultaneously referencing the history of keepsakes and the deeply personal significance that photographs can hold.