Nola Ayoola (b. 1992) is an interdisciplinary artist based between Lagos and New York. Her practice centers on creating hybrid-scapes: abstract landscapes that merge dreamlike visions with tangible forms, bridging sensation and emotion. These ethereal, ambiguous worlds draw from Ayoola’s lived experience and explore themes of identity, time, displacement, womanhood, and the unseen forces that shape the human experience.

Her work functions as a visual journal - portals that translate emotion and memory into form. Guided by heightened sensory awareness, she uses colour, movement, and tactile techniques such as weaving, hand printing, and collage to create intuitive, multi-sensory landscapes and portraiture. These works transport viewers into layered emotional and psychological spaces, often in response to personal adversity and emotional rupture.

The result is a practice that is both emotionally charged and conceptually rich, evoking reflection, vulnerability, and transformation. Ayoola’s compositions often incorporate symbolic materials and forms rooted in her Yoruba heritage, such as interwoven textiles and cowrie shells. Inspired by everyday life, her environments, and the people within them, these elements form a visual language that is culturally grounded yet expansive - shaped by memory and sensory experience, and open to collective interpretation.

Named one of Artsy’s “5 Artists on Our Radar” in 2025, Ayoola has been recognised for the way she connects traditional forms with contemporary life. Her work has been shown at prominent international fairs and public installations. Ayoola holds degrees from the University of Bristol and Parsons School of Design. Her studio is based in Lagos, where she grew up.

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