Aisha Seriki: Ori Inu

Doyle Wham is delighted to present Nigerian artist Aisha Seriki's first global solo exhibition, Orí Inú: a visual inquiry into spirituality and the history of photography which simultaneously depicts the artist’s attempts to mend the break between her mind and spirit.

In this exhibition, Seriki’s entire Orí Inú photographic series is shown for the first time, alongside four unique comb sculptures (Ìyarun) each

containing an embedded photogravure print. Orí Inú translates literally in Yorùbá to inner-head. Orí is a metaphysical concept that refers to a person’s spiritual destiny, which is chosen before entering the world and guides you throughout life, aligning you to your purpose. The calabash fruit, also known as the bottle gourd, is a popular analogy within the Yoruba Spiritual Tradition for the universe: the two halves of the fruit represent the earthly and spiritual planes, but crucially make up an interconnected, holistic world. The calabash therefore becomes a powerful symbol in Seriki’s work and serves as a metaphor for her attempt to reunite her mind and spirit, enabling a process of spiritual exploration and reconnection.

By incorporating optical illusions and tricks within the photographs through the use of mirroring, Orí Inú questions the camera's historic association as a vessel of truth, challenging colonial understandings of the black body. Stimulated by this history, a series of bronze comb sculptures containing miniature photographs are exhibited in conversation with the larger prints. This is informed by the comb’s relationship with African diasporan histories, where it surpasses functionality to become a cultural symbol of empowerment, ritual and self-care, while simultaneously referencing the history of keepsakes and the deeply personal significances that photographs can hold.

Further involving the audience and welcoming us into her holistic world, Seriki also presents a hand-developed stereograph within an antique stereoscope (a device developed in the early 1800s that enables two photographs side by side to converge into a unified, three-dimensional image).

View works from the exhibition on Artsy.