Page Content A.Y. JohnsonA.Y. Johnson is a Nigerian artist based in Ontario, Canada. Her artistic queries address themes of afro-centric social issues, black feminist dialogue, and exploration of her Yoruba heritage. Through barrier-free visualization, she discusses ideas of beauty and strength and explores the contradictions of female and cultural identity, drawing the viewer into conversations about colonialism, race, spirituality and tradition. Johnson graduated from the Ontario University of Arts and Design (OCAD U) with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts and has extensive experience showing work in exhibitions across the Brampton and Toronto area. She has also been commissioned to produce works in her local community.Follow A.Y. Johnson @ay.johnson_artsOlofi (itumọ 2023)"itumọ is a translation of my exploration of Yoruba heritage, using culturally specific contexts I create new space through portraiture, that personifies aspects of Yoruba culture through my understanding. I, as the artist, reinterpret aspects of my native culture through a personal lens."Through itumọ I tackle my understanding of Yoruba knowledge, storytelling, and ideologies. I reinvent these spaces and the narratives that surround them. The outcome sees these archival photographs constructed mythologies that are transfixing, at once utterly complex and strikingly direct."
