Human experiences are in stages. And every stage has its own definitive traits. From first breath to the last, there are varied interrogations, which deepen how human beings live their lives.
These experiences shape chapters of life, which Tayo Ayelowo, in her recently put together solo show, tried to drive home. Titled, Phases, the show, which held from September 1 to 8, 2025, at Didi Museum, Akin Adesola, Victoria Island, Lagos, captured life’s intricacies and transitions, providing the artist opportunity to reflect on the salient and detailed human journey to great beyond. The show featured works that interrogated different stages of life’s journey.
Though Ayelowo studied law, her love for art led her to paintings, sculptures, and all the different genres of plastic art. Her works evoke emotions and spark reflection in these genres.
In the show, her three sculptural works depict human faces, which she says are products of her visit to a mechanic workshop where she saw the nuts and picked interest and repurposed them. Her innovative use of these re-purposed materials is part of the current eco-friendly campaign.
Her compelling face-like sculptures are made of welded nuts that show her face from different angles. According to her, “each face represents a particular mood, whilst also depicting a particular phase in my life.”
She added, “I didn’t know what to do initially, so, I used my face as a reference to a particular phase of my life. That’s what gave birth to the title, Phases, which is metaphorical. I decided to put the spaces in the sculptures suggesting the different phases we go through in life.”
From the painting of the potter to the painting of the bride, she was able to capture different moments. “My art is to dialogue with the viewers, to reflect on the different phases of their lives and the positive impact that they have gained, and that they could transmit or transfer to the younger ones or to co-workers… you know, we have different experiences in life through the different phases we have been through. And, majorly positive things can be transferred,” she revealed.
She also mentioned how she was able to harness the grief of losing her mother, a phase in her life, to put together the show. She said: “What I hope people take out of this is that, no matter the phase you are going through in life, you can do it, you can make it. Whatever it is you hope to achieve in life, be it good health, be it getting married, be it having children… it is just a phase. We should always remember it is just a phase.”
The Head Curator of Didi Museum, Patrick Odimnfe, said: “Thinking of Phases and reflecting on it, I see the different stages of one’s life, which could be viewed from a linear lens on one hand. And also phases, which can be viewed from different experiences that happen whether within a day or across a week… So, in this work, I see these multiple dimensions at play. One, Ayelowo capturing the different facets of her life across time… And then also, in it, you can begin to see other plays or faces. For example, the child shooting the catapult, or you travel to the north and you are enraptured by the physical labour of a dyer… so all of this could just play out as a normal day in one’s life. But when you now put this together into a narrative, it tells of different experiences that one has absorbed or sensed over time.”
He also related the exhibition to the Nigerian context. “We have seen different phases to be honest, you know, politically, different government has come and gone. And it’s interesting that when a government is in power, we complain, and are displeased about the governance at the time. And when that government leaves and a new one comes in, we tend to appreciate what was.”
