The Comforter

Olawunmi Banjo is a Lagos-based, contemporary painter born in 1985. She studied Entrepreneurship at Pan-African University, now Pan-Atlantic University, Lagos. She was largely self-taught and had no formal education/training as an artist. She loved drawing and painting as a child. Her interest to pursue a career in art was born out of her personal passion and desire to create, express her ideas and convey a message to people through art. She learned about different mediums of painting by watching other artists paint and admits she was inspired by the works of the early modernist, Aina Onabolu. Olawunmi has built a remarkable profile and reputation for herself in surrealism and hyper-realism. Her paintings tend to explore and capture the emotional state and mood of her characters. She also uses her works to respond to hidden realities which confront us individually and collectively across the globe. She has participated in a number of exhibitions at home and abroad.

The Comforter is a painting of a sorrowful mother and her sensitive and caring son. At a glance, one sees the warm connection and love between mother and son radiating from this piece. As common in her paintings, Olawunmi Banjo’s very close attention to detail in the hyper-realistic expression of the subtle features of both characters, using a fine, smooth texture that gives the painting so much aesthetic appeal is quite commendable. This is a unique quality of her style that has endeared her to many. The mother’s countenance calls to mind the frustration, worry, depression and pain we all experience at various low points of our human endeavor. However, there is always that person who is there to console, reawaken our spirits and make us believe again. In her case it is her sensitive and loving son, in other cases it could be a friend or relative we always look up to. It is interesting to note that the characters of the painting are Olawunmi’s nephew and his mother.