‘Soft Mirrors’

2024 has been a momentous year for self-taught artist Ibi Meier-Oruitemeka (IMO). Shortly after her birthday in May of this year Ibi picked up a paintbrush for the first time and unleashed a deep-lying creative impulse, immediately producing works that resonated with honesty and soul that imprinted themselves on the viewer's psyche. A fierce talent had arrived.

Over the following months, IMO would quickly begin to find her audience and first collectors. Social media bombards us with a plethora of images every time we open the apps, so it is testament to IMO’s developed style and unique visual language that her work was able to stand out in an ocean of imagery and shine so brightly. It’s this freshness and honesty in her work that piqued the interest of avid art collectors and those who knew early on they were witnessing something extraordinary.

IMO's first collection of paintings sold out within a week of posting them online, her second collection sold out in just under an hour. Her third collection sold out in a blisteringly fast 15 minutes flat. To have your first artistic offering so highly regarded and sought after is a rare phenomenon, that could easily derail other fledgling artists. IMO however remained grounded and dedicated to her new practice, diligently making new works and pushing herself to create the best art possible without losing track of why she started painting in the first place.

Drawing inspiration from her British Nigerian identity, often exploring themes related to human connection and solitude IMO’s work is a celebration of black figures. Often adopting tactile poses; a hand on a shoulder, elbows on a table, or mid-caress IMO’s figures dominate the pictorial frame creating a beautiful visual metaphor for black bodies taking up space. Her figures are unapologetically bold and graphic, never shrinking or acting as a passive bystander, instead demanding to be seen as they are, in all their glory.

Without any graphic devices to denote a specific era, her paintings have a timeless feel. They act as a beautiful suspension and respite from our hectic technology-informed existences. IMO’s images contain multiple figures and hands reaching out, vibrating with imagined chatter, and speak of friendships, family, love, and connection that goes beyond language. Her stylised fingers, articulated arms, and solid torso give her figures an immense presence and weight, they are equal parts solid and fragile, square and spindly, dense and delicate. A marriage of contrasts and contradictions that is softly mirrored back to the viewer.

Ibi lives in a small coastal town with her partner and two young children. She is also the founder of award winning organic hair and skincare brand The Afro Hair & Skin Co.