In Intertwine, Ajuyah interrogates memory, identity, lived experience

It is not every time that you see a work, which interrogates the environment and creative space in a manner that is aesthetically appealing and encouraging as Intertwine, the new work by Jessica Ajuyahand Oluwatimilehin Osunneye (The Milkiwaey). The body of work showed at the recent Art Arising Art Festival, which held from April 18 to 25 at the National Museum, Onikan Lagos .

The theme is shaped by a long-standing friendship and shared creative history by Ajuyah and Osunneye.

Their first major collaboration was the Capsule Explosion, the inaugural issue of the Milkiwaey Magazine. This marked the beginning of an ongoing creative partnership that has since expanded across multiple projects and evolving forms of expression.

Ajuyah, a contemporary visual artist working across digital painting and mixed media,whose practice is research-led and centres on memory, identity, and lived experience, examines how long-standing friendship shape perception and self-understanding over time. The work considers “memory not as something fixed, but as something layered and continually re-formed through experience.”

The artist also reflects how her practice has developed and the process of finding a voice and the complexity that comes with growing in one’s identity while learning to take up space as a woman in the creative industry.

Texture and structure play a central role in her work, allowing the surface to carry both visual and conceptual weight. While developed digitally, the works are resolved with close attention to composition and material presence, and are presented within physical exhibition contexts.

Ajuyah, an art director whose work combines intricate design with a clear and refined visual approach, is inspired by the vibrancy of different cultures and the power of visual storytelling, creating pieces that speak directly to her audiences.

Her projects span branding, publications, and fine art, each marked by her delicate balance of detail and meaning.

In the Technique, she shows a shift towards clarity in methods and decision making. Creative process becomes more structured, moving from exploration into intention. “Different influences begin to separate into a more defined approach, where experimentation is guided by personal voice, heritage and instinct,”she points out .

Working across digital and physical spaces, she treats each project as a story to be told, with an emphasis on subtlety and authenticity. Her approach is deeply collaborative, blending her insights with those of her clients to create work that feels both distinctive and approachable. Her dedication to thoughtful, impactful design ensures each piece resonates on a personal level, leaving an impression that is as lasting as it is quiet.
Ajuyah approaches each body of work as a unified project.

Individual pieces are developed in relation to one another, with attention to rhythm, spacing, and how meaning unfolds across a space. This allows her exhibitions to function not simply as a collection of works, but as structured environments where viewers are invited to spend time, return to specific pieces, and form their own interpretations through sustained engagement.

While in Step into my world, she shows a more confident stage of practice, where creative direction is established and more openly expressed. The work reflects a readiness to share process and take on ideas with less. Collaboration and shared history remain present as part of how the practice continues to evolve.

Her process involves constructing and reworking complex visual surfaces, using layering, repetition, and controlled shifts in colour and form to reflect the way memory accumulates, fades, and resurfaces.

Working from similar environments but often in different spaces, the artist reflects on how their practices have developed alongside each other the works explore the process of finding a voice and the complexity that comes with growing into one’s identity while learning to take up space as women in the creative industry.

Recurring forms of branches and bubbles appear throughout the process shifting in meaning. At times, they hold things in places they protect and they open new paths. They trace a way of thinking about growth as something guided by both restriction and possibility.

Across six digital paintings, the story moves through individual expression and collaboration, forming an engaging exchange between two artists whose ideas continue to meet, separate and return.

One of the works, titled, Soft Altitude, reveals early entry into the creative space, where ideas are formed through exposure and influence. “Nothing is fully defined yet, with different inputs overlapping as the work develops. It sits in a stage of learning, absorbing and responding to what is around,” Ajuyah says.

From February 2025 to the present moment, she has created compelling visual narratives and led diverse creative projects, from editorial photography to magazine design and illustration, bringing ideas to life with a strong artistic vision that inspires and elevates brand storytelling.

Her work has been exhibited across the United Kingdom and Nigeria, including a solo exhibition at Terra Kulture. Her exhibitions have received media coverage in national publications and have contributed to ongoing conversations around memory, identity, and the representation of lived experience within contemporary visual art.

She continues to develop her practice through exhibitions, research, and collaboration, with a focus on producing work that is both visually resolved and conceptually grounded within contemporary discourse.