Opeyemi Olukotun captures human emotions and society in his paintings

We sat down with Opeyemi Olukotun as part of The Creative Lane, a series of features in which we set the stage for creative people of colour all over the planet, guided by question prompts but not interrupted by word counts or time limits, letting them share personal stories and lessons in the purest, truthful, and most inspiring form.

Opeyemi Olukotun‘s discovery of his artistic capability was quite accidental. It happened as a response to an academic shortcoming as a kid. His first drawing was of his brother. His father’s reception of the newly discovered skill helped to strengthen his creative footing. Over the years, having studied fine and applied arts at the university and interned under the nation’s top art mentors, Opeyemi has exhibited works at various shows, sold hundreds of art pieces, and now mentors upcoming artists as an instructor at the Universal Studios of Arts in Lagos. Here, he walks The Moveee through his creative journey, focusing on the early beginning and how he’s navigated the tide since then.

When I was in primary school, in a class of 16 pupils, I once came out ninth at the end-of-term examination. My dad flogged the hell out of me. Some days after that, I picked up my pen and started sketching a picture of my brother, and it came out nice. My father saw it and was amazed. I didn’t even know I could draw until that moment. That marked the beginning for me. Throughout my secondary school days, I didn’t do anything related to art. I was a science student, and in 2006 I got admission into Ladoke Akintola University of Technology to study Pure and Applied Chemistry. I was not a fan of Chemistry, and I am sure that if I had stayed in that department, I wouldn’t have graduated with a good enough result.