Richard Ayodeji Ikhide
Richard Ayodeji Ikhide
Richard Ayodeji Ikhide’s creates large-scale watercolor, gouache, and collaged paintings on paper that explore universal cosmologies, the role of the artist and artisan in mythmaking, and concepts of nonphysical or parallel realities.
While Ikhide’s work is firmly rooted in the cultural history of Nigeria and the Edo religion, his paintings celebrate the moments when specific spiritual traditions intersect with the universal. Figures in his work engage with archetypal forms such as water, vessels, tools, artifacts, and effigies, suggesting a narrative structure.
Ikhide studied textile design and drawing, mediums that have influenced his ambitious approach to watercolors. Works on thick paper begin with sketched compositions in pencil, and are progressively built up over time through layers of watercolor—achieving bold, saturated colors and surfaces thick with paint that defy the typically delicate nature of the medium. However, a fluidity is maintained—a quality that animates and gives life to Ikhide’s narratives.
Image details: Richard Ayodeji Ikhide, Interdependent Co-dependence, 2022, Watercolor on paper, 59 x 44 1/8 inches. Photo credit: Adam Reich (above and previous page).
THE NEW YORK TIMES May 2024 by Yinka Elujoba
THE NEW YORKER June 2022 by Johanna Fatemen
