Hello Thrivers,

For the past 12 weeks, we have explored stories and insights across media, business, entertainment, and the creative industry. For today's edition, we sat down with someone whose journey reminds us that conviction and craft often matter more than convention.

Meet Ini Oluwa, a 31-year-old self-taught visual artist based in Ile-Ife, Nigeria.

Over the years, the internationally acclaimed artist has built a body of work that has travelled beyond Nigeria. One of his earliest works from 2015 is now part of the MOCADA Museum collection in New York. His works have also been exhibited internationally, including "Breathing While Black" at the Augusta Savage Gallery in the United States, exhibitions in London with Eno Gallery, and several independent showcases.

In 2023, he staged his debut solo exhibition, Fountainhead, in Lagos. The multi-sensory exhibition featured one hundred artworks and welcomed thousands of visitors. Yet beyond the exhibitions and recognition lies something more interesting: a man who left corporate life because he simply couldn't imagine doing anything else.

Today, he lives and works from his private studio in Lagos, creating works that sit between abstraction and figurative realism. Most of his collectors discover his work directly from the studio, a reflection of a career that has largely been built outside traditional institutions.

"I honestly just thought I was going to die if I continued working 9-5."

By 2016, Ini had reached a point where remaining in corporate life no longer felt aligned with the kind of life he wanted to live. Though his earlier dream of becoming a screenwriter had faded, the creative world remained the only place he wanted to be.

Leaving his job wasn't a leap of faith as much as it was a decision born from conviction. Art, for him, was never simply a hobby. It was the only thing that made sense. 

Long before becoming a full-time artist, Ini's first motivation was money. As a student at Obafemi Awolowo University, making money from art was his first encounter with the possibility of turning creativity into a profession.

But his journey happened in stages.

Despite studying Agriculture, he remained in Ile-Ife after graduation to focus on his craft while working as a chief curator in a gallery. It was an unconventional decision, one that required believing in himself when there was no obvious roadmap.

Years later, he left another job as a writer in a media and technology company to commit fully to studio practice.

As his career evolved, the challenge shifted from simply surviving as an artist to confronting larger questions:

What should art be? Why is it made? How much should commercial value influence expression?

Those questions continue to shape his work today.

We asked Ini a question that many creatives wrestle with: Is art a gift reserved for a few people?

His answer was this:

"I believe everyone can be an artist in the same way that I believe everybody can be anything."

For him, talent alone is not what determines who becomes an artist. Interest, curiosity, and commitment matter far more.

Not everyone wants to become an artist, he says, but anyone with genuine interest and enough conviction to build principles around that interest can become one.

Trying to define Ini's work means understanding how he sees people.

His work exists somewhere between realism and abstraction because, according to him, that's what being human is.

Physical bodies belong to realism. Emotions, personalities, and vibes belong to abstraction.

"We exist in physical bodies, but we live in our heads."

That philosophy explains why his subjects are rarely placed in realistic environments. Even when he paints people, he is often trying to capture something invisible.

Not merely how people look, but how they feel.

Like many artists, Ini has had moments where art felt more like a product than an expression.

He makes an important distinction between the two.

In the years after leaving his job, he created Afrocentric mixed-media pieces that eventually grew into a brand. The works travelled across countries and found audiences drawn to their celebration of African identity.

He also spent years creating murals across different states in Nigeria. Those projects, he explains, were products. He approached them like a designer or architect, understanding a client's values and translating them into visual experiences.

And he enjoyed that process.

What he disliked, however, was treating his personal studio work the same way.

"The works I've sold the most are the works that I made from inside myself."

Whenever he attempted to create studio pieces solely based on what he thought people would buy, he found the results unconvincing.

According to him, audiences can tell when work comes from conviction and when it comes from pressure.

"If I was here just to do what people like, I'd go and manufacture biscuits."

For Ini, products have their place. Expression has its place too. Confusing the two is where artists lose themselves.

One of Ini's most memorable projects was Atlas.

The project emerged during one of the darkest periods of his life.

Having just come through what he describes as a suicidal episode, he found himself searching for purpose.

"I thought, what can I do now?"

His answer. Paint people. Tell their stories.

Atlas became a way of documenting humanity when his own story felt too painful to confront.

"The Atlas project was something I did to tell other people's stories when mine seemed so bleak."

Perhaps that is why the work resonated with so many people. It wasn't created from ambition. It was created from survival.

When asked about the most important work he has sold so far, Ini points to "Untitled I" from his series Icons of Lusalia.

The painting came after Fountainhead.

At the time, he wanted to create something that represented the fullest expression of his abilities.

What emerged was a piece that would become his fastest-selling work.

"It felt like I was using all of my potential."

The piece wasn't important because of the price. It mattered because it became a marker of growth, opening the door for many of the works that followed. 

Before we wrapped up, we asked Ini what he would tell anyone trying to build a life in the creative world today, especially in a culture where visibility, money, and identity are deeply intertwined. 

His answer wasn't about protecting yourself from change, but about remaining open to experience.

"The truth is, you can't be so bothered about losing yourself." 

Instead, he believes creatives should focus on something deeper: truth.

"Look for what is true at all times. You are a conduit. You are a channel of truth in expression."

For Ini, the artist's role is not merely to create beautiful things, but to discover. Scientists uncover the laws of the physical world, while artists uncover the invisible systems that shape beauty, meaning, and human experience. 

And perhaps that is what his journey has been about all along, not fame, institutions, or even success, but the lifelong pursuit of truth through art.

If you would like to connect with Ini Oluwa, learn more about his work, or acquire one of his original pieces, you can explore his collections and portfolio here. 

Till next time,

Team Thrive

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