Ṣola, pronounced Sho-la, is a mixed media artist based in Houston, TX. Her art pays homage to her Nigerian roots and American experiences by using West African fabrics and Yoruba adire symbols to tell modern stories. Her work reflects the immense beauty in the confusion, celebration, and vulnerability we feel when we start to make life choices for ourselves by stepping off the paths that have been planned for us
As a child, Sola was drawn to artistic expression, but discouraged from pursuing art as a profession. She received her Bachelor degree in Chemical Engineering, but never lost her passion for the arts. She started her professional artist career while living in Chicago and recently moved back to her hometown of Houston, TX.
With her art, she takes items and ideas that have been used as labels and barriers in her life and redefines them to make them her own. With each piece she's allowed herself to become more transparent and share her journey as a first generation Nigerian-American woman.
Her work has been featured in:
2021. Group exhibition. Art League Houston, Houston, TX
2019, Group exhibition. Awakenings Art Gallery, Chicago, IL
2017. Group exhibition. Pancake and Booze Art Show, Chicago, IL
2016. Group exhibition. Art of Blackness, Block 37, Chicago, IL
2016. Juried exhibition. Black Creativity, The Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, IL
2015. Group exhibition. Ultraviolet, Aplomb Gallery, Chicago, IL
2014. Solo exhibition. Unsheltered, Maypole Studios, Chicago, IL
2014. Group exhibition. The Gallery of Art Fusion, Chicago, IL
2014. Group exhibition. Paper Dolls and Action Figures, Zhou B Art Center, Chicago, IL