Chidinma Nnoli (b. 1999, Nigeria) is a visual artist whose practice draws from personal, real-life experiences in challenging stereotypes, psychology and the cultural conditioning of women while exploring elements of identity, sexuality and mental health.
Working predominantly in oil, Nnoli’s work confronts socially entrenched structures of patriarchal power and misogyny as enforced by the state, familial relationships and religious organisations. Fascinated with the notion of safe and enabling spaces, her work pushes back against reductive notions of femininity, gender roles and mental health in contemporary society.
Nnoli earned her Bachelor of Arts at the University of Benin and has participated in various exhibitions all over Nigeria. In 2019 she participated in the inaugural edition of Rele Arts Foundation’s Young Contemporaries Bootcamp and the following year was selected as part of Rele Arts Foundation Young Contemporaries. Her debut solo exhibition To Wander Untamed will open at Rele Gallery, Lagos in March, 2021. Nnoli currently lives and works in Lagos.
My work has a lot of texture that is inspired by impressionism, I love impressions because a huge part of my work incorporates flowers, i see flowers as my safe space and using impressions allows me to be flexible with the way I portray the flowers. I particularly love the way renaissance figures are posed and I use black bodies cause its the colour of my skin, it portrays my existence and experiences properly.
IN CONVERSATION WITH CHIDINMA NNOLI, ARTFRICONN
