Biographical Information:
Born and raised in Lagos Nigeria, Adeola Davies-Aiyeloja “ADA” began her painting at an early age. Even though art was not encouraged as a career choice by her family, Adeola found solace in her creative endeavors. A self-taught artist with no formal training in art, Adeola credited her consistency and endurance in her ability to create joy, love, and positive outlook in her painting. “When you take a look at my paintings you instantly feel the joy and happiness the colors convey. I am very aware of colors and forms and how they work together to create a visual sensation” says Adeola. “From the beginning composition to the final stroke, my work prevails in revealing the complex inner spirits within us,” she added.
While earning her B. A. in Business Administration with major in accounting at California State University, her interest in art continues to be strong. Adeola’s first public exhibition was at the National Orange Show in San Bernardino where she won honorable mention for her work Wings of Love. In 1996 she won the award of excellence at the Tempe Festival of the Arts in Tempe Arizona, Won first place in painting at the Annual Milbrea Art Festival in California and many numerous award. Most recently, she won the Top Division for her jewelry design at the OC fair. She has exhibited at Riverside Art Museum, Maloof Museum, Riverside Community Art Association and Corona Art association. She is a member of Plein Aire Painters of Riverside, Corona Art Association, Riverside Community Art Association, Redlands Art Association and founding member and past vice president of Printmaker Network @ RAM.
Her work is in both private and public collections including Riverside Art Museum, Chaffey Community Art Museum, and National Orange show, Toni Morrison, Oklahoma Arts Council just to name a few. Adeola’s work has been used in many T.V and movie productions; Gray’s Anatomy, Chicago Med, Blackish, “Time of your Life”, “The Others” and sitcom “Will and Grace”. Adeola works in various mediums, but has developed a deep love for mixed media using oil, acrylic, pastels, collage, found objects and prints. She has expanded her artistic endeavors into wearable metalsmithing.
Artist Statement
“I am a Southern California artist with a multidisciplinary approach to my work. I create non-objective and figurative abstractions using a mix of acrylic, printmaking, digital collages, and other media on various substrates.
Color is a key element in creating an atmospheric feel in my paintings. I use layers of warm or cool colors to establish a visual language that changes as the light and angles shift. Visual imagery of people, animals, and nature emerges through shadow, silhouettes, and intersecting lines.
I infuse positive manifestation words and phrases on the blank substrates, which become encapsulated energy and build up layers intuitively to find a balance between the conscious and unconscious. In my art, dots are a recurrent motif that I employ to investigate the connection between mankind in an abstract way.
My paintings evoke femininity, spirituality, and nature, exploring the relationship between nature and humanity through abstract art influenced by my Yoruba culture.”
