Wunmi and Atinuke, 2022
Nengi Omuku is a contemporary artist born in Warri, Nigeria, whose figurative paintings explore the human body as a site of belonging, identity, and transformation. She lives and works between Lagos, Nigeria, and London, United Kingdom.
Omuku paints saturated, expressive figures on strips of a traditional Nigerian fabric called sanyan, aso oke. These pre-colonial fabrics are woven from wild silk and cotton, serving both material and metaphor, reflecting lives shaped by movement between cultures. Her figures appear in states of solitude and collectivity, inhabiting dreamlike landscapes where distinctions between body and nature dissolve, foregrounding themes of otherness, resilience, and adaptation.
Omuku completed both her BA and MA at the Slade School of Fine Art, University College London. She has presented solo exhibitions internationally, including A State of Mind at The Armoury Show, New York, and exhibitions with Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, Kasmin Gallery, Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, and Hastings Contemporary. Her work has also featured in major group exhibitions such as the Dak’Art Biennale, Bangkok Art Biennale, and at institutions including Dulwich Picture Gallery, Hauser & Wirth, and Gagosian.
Her works are held in prominent public and private collections worldwide, and she is the founder of The Art of Healing (TAOH), a charity exploring the therapeutic potential of art.