Last week, we welcomed adeoluwa oluwajoba, a Lagos-based mixed media artist and a recipient of the G.A.S. Fellowship Award 2026, for a residency at G.A.S. Lagos. Working across painting, collage, and photographic printmaking, adeoluwa’s practice examines the transfer and reproduction of images, exploring how visual fragments can be layered to create intricate and often disjointed scenes of bodies and landscapes. His work investigates the shifting relationships between image, meaning, and spatial experience.
During his four-week residency, adeoluwa will focus on experimenting with cyanotype processes on fabric, expanding his ongoing investigations into photographic and traditional printmaking techniques. Alongside studio experimentation, he plans to conduct research at the G.A.S. Library and Picton Archive, as well as at the Centre for Contemporary Art (CCA) Lagos Library, while moving through the city to gather images and observations that inform his work. These explorations are part of a broader inquiry into how bodies inhabit and move through Lagos’ public spaces, and how these environments shape moments of reflection, imagination, and daydreaming. The residency will provide a dedicated environment for experimentation and critical dialogue, and through these activities, he aims to engage fellow artists and audiences in discussions around image-making, material experimentation, and the evolving visual language of the city.
haunted i, 2025. Cynotype print on watercolour paper, 28 x 28 cm. Image courtesy of the artist.
What is the current focus of your creative practice?
In my practice, my stylistic concerns lie in exploring the transfer and reproduction of images, from painted objects to photographic printmaking. I am interested in building intricate, collaged worlds that examine the nature of image representation. Through experimenting with cyanotype processes and photo transfer techniques, I have developed a growing interest in both photographic and traditional printmaking methods. Thematically, my work has primarily focused on the forms and positions the human body assumes within private, intimate spaces, as well as the attendant possibilities for influence, symbiosis, and subversion between object and form. More recently, the focus of my practice has shifted to consider the fraught and often contested relationship between individual and collective bodies and public spaces in Lagos, where I live.
sites of excavation, 2025. Acrylic, toned cyanotype prints and ink on canvas, 106 x 182 cm. Image courtesy of the artist.
What drew you to apply for this residency and how do you think it will inform your wider practice?
The residency offers dedicated space, time, and resources to experiment with different materials and make mistakes with relative ease. I believe this period will help expand the material scope of my practice while also providing a convenient environment for research. Its location in Lagos adds to the appeal, given my focus on public spaces in the city.
Installation view, a landscape as it transforms, 2025. Cynotype print on watercolour paper. Image courtesy of the artist.
Can you give us an insight into how you hope to use the opportunity?
Given the time available during the residency, I hope to continue my experiments with cyanotypes on fabric, exploring the relationship between material and image reproduction. I also plan to spend time moving through the city, experiencing public areas of transit and leisure, while interrogating their relationship to acts of daydreaming. How do these spaces facilitate or restrict daydreaming, and how might the space for daydreams emerge within the constant confluence of bodies?
About adeoluwa oluwajoba
adeoluwa oluwajoba is a mixed media artist whose work combines painting, collage, and image-transfer processes to create layered compositions of bodies and landscapes. His practice explores the mechanics of image reproduction—from painted surfaces to photographic printmaking—as a way of examining how meaning is constructed through visual fragments. oluwajoba’s recent work focuses on the dynamic relationship between human bodies and the spaces they occupy, particularly the tension between private intimacy and public life in Lagos.
Photo of adeoluwa oluwajoba. Image courtesy of the artist.
adeoluwa's residency is generously supported by Deutsche Bank.