Vignettes of Moonbeams and Memories…

Yinka Olatunbosun

It  began with a heartfelt conversation with her mother. This artist values memory beyond all else. Iyunola Sanyaolu, a painter and sculptor, is thorough in her depictions of intimate memories. At this first Lagos show titled How to Hold a Moonbeam; How Do You Hold Memory?, she takes a restrictive look at the essence of passing time.

Her triumphant return to Lagos culminated in a spectacular solo exhibition—which is her second—at Rele Gallery Ikoyi, which opened on October 26. Art connoisseurs flocked to witness the unveiling of her latest body of work, a poignant exploration of time’s transience and the lingering memories of loved ones.

The gallery’s walls showcased an array of captivating paintings and sculptures, reflecting Sanyaolu’s distinctive eclecticism, also evident in her musical tastes. Her Instagram page, offering glimpses into studio sessions, provides an intimate window into her creative process.

This exhibition delves into the complexities of memory, inviting personal reflection on human decisions. It is a thematic continuation of her 2022 Los Angeles, USA, solo show, titled While We Roam, also held at Rele Gallery.

This on-going show invites the viewer into the artist’s mother’s garden. She dubbed one of them “21st September 2022.’’ Sanyaolu recalled the conversation she had with her mother that brought her face-to-face with thoughts of mortality. 

“The title of the exhibition came from my favourite movie, The Sound of Music, which my mother loves too. Early in the film, there’s a song about ‘moonbeam’—something that’s hard to hold on to. That’s how I see memory: fleeting, but precious,” she reveals.

This creative art graduate of the University of Lagos, Iyunola Sanyaolu, is unique for the technique involving texturising with paint residues—a method she fondly refers to as “sculpting with paint.” 

She explained how her mother’s garden influenced the thought behind her pieces.

“In the garden, I saw everything my mother had planted, and I wondered about life without her; how everything she had nurtured might fade away, and how that moment was already becoming a memory,” she explains as she reflects on the fragility of memory.

Featuring 12 paintings and four mini sculptures, the exhibition, which runs until November 30, is a showcase of Sanyaolu’s three-dimensional pieces and her signature technique—impasto—judiciously used in capturing feelings, giving newer meanings to fading memories.

“Muted colours feel quiet, and I want to balance out the boldness of my strokes,” she continued. “I try to show how memories fade or how we cover them up intentionally to move on. It’s a metaphor for the things that slowly slip away.”

Her journey into the Lagos art scene began when she was selected as part of the Rele Arts Foundation Young Contemporaries in 2021. Select group exhibitions include Its A wRAP (2021), Rele Gallery, Lagos, and Reading Abstraction (2021), Rele Gallery, Los Angeles. We are a way for the cosmos to know itself (2023). Bode Gallery, It’s A wRap (2023), Rele Gallery. 

Iyunola has also exhibited in art fairs across the world, including The Amory Show (2022) and Felix Art Fair (2023). IyunOla Sanyaolu is a 2019/2020 Arts in Medicine (AIM) Fellow.