Joseph Mobolaji Aina (b. 1996) is a Nigerian-British artist based in London, whilst also spending time living and working in Nigeria and Berlin. Aina received a degree in Law and Psychology from the University of Kent (2018), after which he spent time developing his artistic practice before completing a Graduate Diploma in Fine Art at the Royal College of Art, London. Aina completed his MA in Painting at the RCA (2022), on a full scholarship. Since graduating, Aina has completed residencies at the Changing Room Gallery in London, Prior Art Space in Berlin, Live Art in Nigeria, and Vannucci in Italy. He has also had solo presentations at Nada Art Fair in Miami, Berntson Bhattacharjee in London and Ada Gallery in Ghana.
Artist Statement
In my mind, I am a psychologist conducting an inquiry into the psyche of a man of Nigerian heritage, on British soil. I closely associate with this man, though I make my judgments from a distance. I guarantee my studies set valuable precedents. The work is both biographical and documentary, almost a hypothetical autobiography of the self.
I present past transgressions and current psychology, then predict the protagonist's future within Western civilisation. With my training in Law and Psychology, I use an analytical system that examines structure and critiques response, suggesting meaning through material.
I create landscapes within gallery spaces. Instead of focusing on nature and vegetation, I unpack the core nature of my theme and explore the foundations that make it productive in its environment. My immersive environments contain fragments of allegorical narratives, illustrated by the silver line of a protective cloud during hardship. Visually, my work shares some similarities with abstraction, and I am comfortable being defined as an abstract artist. Fragments of the literal anchor the viewer, suggesting that my idea of abstraction centres on creating abstract space that fosters homogeneity among elements.
I use the boundaries of painting as a tool to dissect my ideas. The medium's self-governing nature responds well to the spaces I seek to inhabit. Clouds often recur as motifs, appearing as shifting, luminous forms that evoke the intangible and the divine. Painting clouds is a meditative act that suggests transcendence, revelation, or spiritual ambiguity. Open skies create an atmosphere of contemplation and longing for the sacred, while their constant movement disrupts fixed interpretation. To reflect this malleability, I avoid fixating on a single method or medium. Oil on canvas has been my primary focus so far, but I have also created installations that explore ideas. In essence, I have extrapolated the relationship between paint and canvas, extending it to the idea of space and object.
At my core, I am a landscape painter. However, I also question what landscapes and paintings are. I challenge the borders of landscape by incorporating elements that blur the line between interior and exterior spaces, or by using non-traditional viewpoints that disrupt the familiar horizon. In some works, I let the painted surface dissolve into abstraction, prompting viewers to consider whether the subject is a place, a memory, or a psychological state. I also explore installation and spatial interventions by repositioning canvases or integrating unexpected objects to disrupt the conventional viewing experience of landscape painting. Through these strategies, my practice aims to expand the definition of both landscape and painting.