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On this episode, I’m joined by Samson Bakare, the Nigerian-born, UK-based artist, about the experiences, cultural references, and evolving questions that shape his multidisciplinary practice. Reflecting on his childhood in Lagos, Bakare traces his artistic imagination to his father’s architectural models, comic books, Nollywood films, and the vibrant cultural life of the city. These early influences continue to inform his approach to art, from his explorations of Black historical representation and Afro-classicism to his more recent turn toward abstraction as a fluid, open-ended language that invites interpretation. Together, we discuss the limits of representation, the art world’s shifting engagement with Black artists, and how living in London has deepened Bakare’s relationship to Nigeria and its cultural resources. The conversation also extends beyond the studio to questions of collecting, ownership, and who gets to shape the histories that future generations inherit. Reflecting on his participation in my (Re)Casting the Canon presentation at 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair in London, Bakare considers the importance of building stronger systems of support for artists on the continent and across the diaspora—including more artist residencies, meaningful arts education, and greater investment in African art and cultural infrastructure. At its heart, this episode asks how artists can move beyond responding to existing narratives to create new possibilities for how art, history, and cultural memory are understood. --------------------------------- Follow & Subscribe  Subscribe on Substack Follow Light Work on Instagram Follow Folasade Ologundudu on Instagram YouTube - Subscribe to the Light Work YouTube Channel

On this episode, I’m joined by Obida of O’DA Art Gallery as we discuss his philosophy as a gallerist and collector.  Before opening his gallery in 2020, Obida was a full-time interior designer whose work with clients increasingly put him in between design and art. What first began as collecting privately and sharing art works with his interior design clients turned into a full-scale gallery operating out of Lagos, Nigeria and in participating in global art fairs. Bringing emerging and established artis to new audiences, Obida shares his insights on building relationships over time through trust.  When it comes to the artists he works with, Obida looks for originality, conviction, and creativity. For 1-54, ODA presents “FROM STRUCTURE TO SENSATION” featuring Jonah Bulus, Deborah Segun, and Mobolaji Ogunrosoye, and he highlights 1-54’s role in positioning contemporary African art as simply great contemporary art. --------------------------------- Follow & Subscribe  Subscribe on Substack Follow Light Work on Instagram Follow Folasade Ologundudu on Instagram YouTube - Subscribe to the Light Work YouTube Channel

In this episode, I speak with Nancy Dantas, curator and art historian, and this year's curator of the modern section at the 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair.  Dantas shares how her archival research led her to view curating as an act of "active listening," framed by Miriam Makeba’s song "West Wind." She delves into how African modernism challenges Eurocentric categories—drawing inspiration from the 1966 Dakar exhibition "Tendencies and Confrontations"—and emphasizes the importance of understanding modernism through African intellectual and aesthetic frameworks like Sankofa philosophy. This conversation is a reminder that many histories are available to us, just waiting to be discovered.  --------------------------------- Follow & Subscribe  Subscribe on Substack Follow Light Work on Instagram Follow Folasade Ologundudu on Instagram YouTube - Subscribe to the Light Work YouTube Channel

On this episode, I’m joined by Touria El Glaoui as we discuss 1-54, the Contemporary African Art Fair she founded in 2013.  More than a decade later, Touria explains that she founded the fair in 2013 after seeing exceptional artists across Africa with little presence in Europe or the U.S., and after witnessing the structural hurdles her artist father faced getting institutional support abroad.  She argues the field has moved beyond needing to justify visibility—citing broad audiences and collectors—but now must prioritize permanence: institutional acquisitions, scholarship, archiving, education, curatorial and writing infrastructure, and estate protection so artists enter the canon.  This conversation reminds us that visibility doesn’t equal permanence.  --------------------------------- Follow & Subscribe  Subscribe on Substack Follow Light Work on Instagram Follow Folasade Ologundudu on Instagram YouTube - Subscribe to the Light Work YouTube Channel

On this episode, I’m joined by Zizipho Poswa as we discuss the themes, use of materials, and tenets that guide her work and practice as a visual artist and ceramist.  Zizipho discusses her first New York solo exhibition at Southern Guild, titled The Seed, which is called Imbewu in Xhosa, her native language. The show traces the last decade of her career and showcases five distinct bodies of work that reflect on where she’s been as an artist, her continuity and growth, and what lies ahead.  She shares her insights into the critical role women have played in her life, from her own family to the women in her community. Spanning several key components of women's lives, from traditional wedding ceremonies to hairstyles and the concept of mothers carrying children, Zizipho links her womanhood to her training in textiles, and later in clay. In her practice, she draws connections between ritual ceremonies and adornments to create monumental ceramic and bronze works.  This conversation is a tender and thoughtful reflection on the relationships between mothers and daughters, women working and living in community, and the nurturing environments that help creativity develop.  --------------------------------- Follow & Subscribe  Subscribe on Substack Follow Light Work on Instagram Follow Folasade Ologundudu on Instagram YouTube - Subscribe to the Light Work YouTube Channel

On this episode I’m joined by Alexa Kumiko Hatanaka as we discuss her latest work on view in the 61st edition of the Venice Biennale.   Alexa is a Japanese-Canadian artist who brings together historical and sustainable craft technologies of her heritage, including hand-papermaking, natural dye, linocut, gyotaku (printing real fish), and washi (Japanese paper).  Her work, taking the form of sewn paper sculpture, large-scale print installation, collaborative performances and wearable washi, addresses contemporary questions of climate change and mental health, informed by a decade of community-engaged projects in Nunavut (high arctic) and lived experience with bipolar.  Our conversation is thoughtful, intimate, and expansive, centering on how art can create spaces for vulnerability, collective healing, and deeper ways of knowing.  --------------------------------- Follow & Subscribe  Subscribe on Substack Follow Light Work on Instagram Follow Folasade Ologundudu on Instagram YouTube - Subscribe to the Light Work YouTube Channel

On this episode I’m joined by Anina Major. We discuss the themes of identity, migration, and memory present in her work. Discussing her latest works and the context of her practice, we explore the ongoing negotiation between self and place. Drawing from her upbringing in the Bahamas and her life in the United States, Major reflects on craft as a language of memory, the influence of familial knowledge, and the ways displacement can transform both identity and artistic expression.  Her latest exhibition, Tender Seedlings on view at Larkin Durey, is her first in London and explores how identity is formed through movement and transformation. Using the traditional weaving technique, plaiting, taught to her by her late grandmother, Major translates a fragile, portable craft into ceramic form, allowing inherited knowledge to migrate across materials, geographies and time.  Anina Major (she/her) is a visual artist from the Bahamas. Her decision to establish a home contrary to the location in which she was born and raised motivates her to investigate the relationship between self and place as a site of negotiation. By utilizing the vernacular of craft to reclaim experiences and relocate displaced objects, her practice exists at the intersection of nostalgia, and identity. --------------------------------- Follow & Subscribe  Subscribe on Substack Follow Light Work on Instagram Follow Folasade Ologundudu on Instagram YouTube - Subscribe to the Light Work YouTube Channel

Darold Brown — known to the world as Ferg — grew up watching his father build a business, a brand, and a community from the basements of Harlem. In this episode, musician, and all around artist, Ferg reflects on his upbringing in Harlem, the deep influence of his late father’s entrepreneurial spirit, and the world-building ambition that now drives everything he does. From learning to paint on T-shirts in his father’s silk-screen operation to navigating the leap from fashion dreams to rap stardom, Ferg traces the through-line of community, creativity, and culture that has always defined him. But this isn’t just a conversation about music. Instead, Ferg draws connections between Harlem’s competitive spirit and his own creative drive, between the pre-internet era of being outside and the community-centered art practice he is building today — one rooted in the belief that art is, above all, a tool for bringing people together. In this episode Ferg shares: His upbringing as an only child in Harlem and the neighborhood’s deeply competitive, flamboyant cultureHis father’s legacy — from silk-screening T-shirts in basements to running Ferg Apparel on 145th Street — and the lessons he carries from working alongside himAttending Art and Design High School and the community of creatives it introduced him toThe unexpected leap from aspiring fashion designer to rapper, and learning to trust the flow without having all the answersHis current world-building vision — curating spaces, taste, and community the way the great creative directors and brand architects doArtists he’s studying right now, including Ernie Barnes, Kara Walker, Francis Bacon, and BasquiatAnd why, after years of global travel, he’s planting himself in New York this summer — because home is where it’s atAt its core, this conversation is about legacy — what we inherit, what we build, and how the communities that shape us never really leave us, no matter how far we go. Connect with Folasade aka 'Sade' Ologundudu:   Subscribe to the Light Work newsletter Visit Sade’s websiteVisit the Light Work websiteFollow Sade on Instagram  Follow Light Work on InstagramWatch the episodes on YouTubeReview us on Apple Podcasts--------------------------------- Follow & Subscribe  Subscribe on Substack Follow Light Work on Instagram Follow Folasade Ologundudu on Instagram YouTube - Subscribe to the Light Work YouTube Channel

Manyaku Mashilo began as a drawer—using pencil to mimic texture, memory, and feeling—long before painting became her primary language. In this episode, visual artist Manyaku Mashilo reflects on her evolution from fashion design into a multidisciplinary practice rooted in painting, mark-making, and storytelling. Her work moves through texture, memory, and color—building intimate, emotional worlds that center Black womanhood, spirituality, and ancestral lineage.  But this isn’t just a conversation about artistic process. Instead, Manyaku traces the deeper currents beneath her work: memory as a tool for survival, art as a spiritual practice, and the lifelong search for belonging—both within herself and in the communities she builds through her work. In this episode Manyaku shares: Her beginnings in fashion design and how drawing became the foundation of her practiceThe importance of texture as memory, emotion, and cultural markerHer work as a tattoo artist and how mark-making extends onto the bodyThe influence of her grandmothers—one a farmer, the other a spiritual healer—on her practiceArt as a form of ancestral remembrance and spiritual groundingNavigating identity, suppression, and belonging growing up between rural and urban South AfricaBuilding new forms of community through art, including queer Black creative networksAt its core, this conversation is about returning—returning to memory, to lineage, to the textures that hold us. Through Manyaku’s reflections, we see how art becomes more than image-making; it becomes a site of healing, a language for the unsaid, and a way to rebuild belonging in a world that often asks us to forget. If you liked the episode, subscribe to our Substack for more highlights and insights about this episode and Mayaku’s practice.  Connect with Sade:   Subscribe to the Light Work newsletter Visit Sade’s websiteVisit the Light Work websiteFollow Sade on Instagram  Follow Light Work on InstagramWatch the episodes on YouTubeReview us on Apple Podcasts--------------------------------- Follow & Subscribe  Subscribe on Substack Follow Light Work on Instagram Follow Folasade Ologundudu on Instagram YouTube - Subscribe to the Light Work YouTube Channel

Demetrius Wilson describes painting as a living exchange—where the canvas responds, shifts, and ultimately becomes something greater than he first imagined.  In this episode, abstract painter Demetrius Wilson reflects on his second solo exhibition at Half Gallery and the evolution of a practice rooted in intuition, movement, and material dialogue. Working at the intersection of environment, memory, and abstraction, Wilson explores how color, scale, and gesture can evoke both personal and collective experience. But this conversation goes beyond painting. Here, Demetrius considers what it means to create in a rapidly changing world—tracing how a 1990s upbringing, spiritual inquiry, and a desire to expand visual language all shape his approach to art-making and meaning. In this episode Demetrius shares: His recent exhibition Light in a Dark Mirror and why it represents his strongest body of work to dateThe idea of painting as a “symbiotic” process—where the work responds and evolves in real timeGrowing up on the East Coast in the 1990s and how that era shapes his perspective and processHis approach to color—using heat, temperature, and contrast to evoke emotional intensityHis relationship to spirituality and how religious ideas subtly surface in his recent workKey artistic influences including Ed Clark, Jack Whitten, Mark Bradford, Cecily Brown, Francis Bacon, and Jean-Michel Basquiat. How scale shifts perception, from expansive canvases to intimate works on paperAt its core, this conversation is about movement—between control and release, past and present, clarity and ambiguity. Through Demetrius Wilson’s reflections, painting emerges as both a physical act and a philosophical inquiry: a space where memory, environment, and emotion collide, and where abstraction becomes a language for navigating a world that is constantly in flux. Connect with Sade:   Subscribe to the Light Work newsletter Visit Sade’s websiteVisit the Light Work websiteFollow Sade on Instagram  Follow Light Work on InstagramWatch the episodes on YouTubeReview us on Apple Podcasts--------------------------------- Follow & Subscribe  Subscribe on Substack Follow Light Work on Instagram Follow Folasade Ologundudu on Instagram YouTube - Subscribe to the Light Work YouTube Channel

Lyndon J. Barrois, Sr began creating art from discarded chewing gum wrappers when he was 10 years old.  In this episode, award‑winning animator and visual‑effects artist Lyndon J. Barrois, Sr discusses his latest exhibition, his most ambitious project to date, the groundbreaking show - Futbol is Life: Animated Sportraits on view at the LACMA through mid July 2026. Iconic moments from both women’s and men’s soccer are staged as both spectacle and social record, pairing the “beautiful game” with the political and cultural forces it reflects.  But this isn’t just a conversation about his show at LACMA.  Instead, Lyndon draws parallels between sports and politics, art and life, creative expression and mentorship, and the ways in which history, while sometimes hidden from view, is always present - if one knows where to look.  In this episode Lyndon shares:  His origins growing up in New Orleans How he began using discarded chewing gum wrappers to make art Studying at the HBCU, Xavier University of Louisiana then at Cal Arts His mentor, John Scott who encouraged him to see his work differently The buried histories and inequities in sports And how history can be found if one knows where to look At its core, this conversation considers the relationships and histories that are waiting to be unearthed through visual storytelling and sports as a conduit for cultural conversations.  If you liked the episode, subscribe to our Substack for more highlights and insights about this episode and Lyndon’s practice.  Connect with Sade:   Subscribe to the Light Work newsletter Visit Sade’s websiteVisit the Light Work websiteFollow Sade on Instagram  Follow Light Work on InstagramWatch the episodes on YouTubeReview us on Apple Podcasts--------------------------------- Follow & Subscribe  Subscribe on Substack Follow Light Work on Instagram Follow Folasade Ologundudu on Instagram YouTube - Subscribe to the Light Work YouTube Channel

On this episode, Leo Iheagwam aka Soldier, the London-based painter-sculptor who rose to prominence in the art and skate scene of Lagos, Nigeria and London, discusses his first digital curation, Future Tense presented with myma.art.  Soldier has emerged as one of the strongest voices is shaping the new African creative landscape in recent years. In 2025, Soldier was selected as a finalist for the Arte Laguna prize. The Arte Laguna Prize is one of Italy’s most established international art competitions, recognized for its high-profile jury and global visibility, making a finalist position a respected mark of prestige for emerging artists.  In this episode we discuss Future Tense, a digital exhibition featuring emerging and established artists worldwide, rooted in his interest in speculative futurism and documenting the Black body in the future. He describes discovering MyMa through a friend and valuing its model beyond traditional white-gallery spaces, selecting artists whose personal visions fit the theme from a large application pool.  Soldier outlines his multi-medium practice as symbol-driven “historian” work shaped by growing up in Nigeria, military/war references, and skateboarding as a countercultural catalyst. For Soldier, art provides a space for belonging through a lineage of risk-taking thinkers. He proposes that designing a playable sculpture playground would be a dream collaboration. Discover Future Tense  Learn more about myma.art --------------------------------- Follow & Subscribe  Subscribe on Substack Follow Light Work on Instagram Follow Folasade Ologundudu on Instagram YouTube - Subscribe to the Light Work YouTube Channel

On this episode I’m joined by Lindsay Adams and Caitlin Berry as we discuss Lindsay's latest exhibition at the Irene and Richard Frary Gallery at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center.  Ceremony brings newly created paintings and drawings into conversation with archival materials and previously unseen ephemera from Johns Hopkins special collections. Lindsay reflects on how her background in international studies and anthropology shapes a multi-lens approach and attention to interconnected histories. Caitlin describes building a relationship with Adams over several years, Adams’ research-driven practice, and how guest curator Claudia Watts helped merge new paintings with library archives to support the gallery’s mission of dialogue around art and democracy.  Ceremony is on view at the Irene and Richard Frary Gallery at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center through March 7, 2026 --------------------------------- Follow & Subscribe  Subscribe on Substack Follow Light Work on Instagram Follow Folasade Ologundudu on Instagram YouTube - Subscribe to the Light Work YouTube Channel

Welcome to Season 6 of Light Work Presents: Everything is Connected.  This year, we're releasing bigger episodes, recording more episodes, and deepening conversations at the intersection of art, education, and culture.    More artists and more art. More impactful conversations on art and culture. Exclusive resources, BTS footage of my travels and insights into the international art world and more!  I've just launched our my Substack and if you like my work consider showing your support and subscribing!  --------------------------------- Follow & Subscribe  Subscribe on Substack Follow Light Work on Instagram Follow Folasade Ologundudu on Instagram YouTube - Subscribe to the Light Work YouTube Channel

On this episode I’m joined by Bisa Butler. We discuss her pivot from painting to quilting, what it was like for her to study at an HBCU, she earned her BFA in Painting at Howard University, how that experience shaped her and what she hopes her work does in the world. Bisa talks about her recent exhibition Hold Me Close that was previously on view at Jeffrey Deitch Gallery in LA. Bisa Butler (b. 1973) lives and works in New Jersey. She earned her BFA in Painting at Howard University and holds a MA in Teaching Art from Montclair State University. In 2020, Portraits at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Katonah Museum of Art was the artist’s first institutional solo exhibition. Her quilts were prominently featured in Black American Portrait at LACMA, Los Angeles (2022) and Fabric of a Nation: American Quilt Stories at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (2021), and graced the cover of both exhibition catalogs.  Her work can be found in the permanent collections of several institutions, including Art Institute of Chicago; The Smithsonian American Museum of Art; The Pérez Art Museum, Miami; High Museum of Art, Atlanta; MFA Houston; and de Young Museum, San Francisco. Butler is the recipient of the 2022 Gordon Parks Foundation Fellowship and of the inaugural “Faith in The Arts Award,” presented by Broadway Housing Communities in recognition of the legacy of Faith Ringgold.  The World Is Yours, Butler’s first exhibition with Jeffrey Deitch in New York in 2023, attracted thousands of visitors. Hold Me Close is the artist’s first solo exhibition in Los Angeles. --------------------------------- Follow & Subscribe  Subscribe on Substack Follow Light Work on Instagram Follow Folasade Ologundudu on Instagram YouTube - Subscribe to the Light Work YouTube Channel