Delicately painting the dark skin tones of his Black female models, Oluwole Omofemi embellishes their faces with scarification marks to identify his subjects’ roots and places emphasis on the styling of his sitters’ hair to express their independence. He states, ‘I use hair as a metaphor for freedom,’ adding ‘It’s a big part of our identity. In my paintings, I try to tell Black people to accept who they are; accept their identity; accept their beauty.’ Echoing Afropunk street styles and the liberating spirit of Fela Aníkúlápó-Kuti’s Pan-African vision, the artist looks to the past while exuberantly eyeing the future. His work has been shown at solo and group shows in Nigeria, Ghana, Belgium, UK, and Spain.