Nina Fabunmi has been creating art since her childhood in Nigeria. “My father was an architect and my mother was very artistic, so I think that rubbed off on me,” she says. In 2011 she finally answered the call to art that had never left her: She came to the U.S. to pursue her a master’s degree in fine art at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, where she still lives and works today.
Fascinated by all kinds of people and cultures, portraiture quickly became her favorite subject. “My process for portraits usually involves embellishing or adding elements that exemplify something about the person—like their cultural origin, history, or passions in life,” she says. Sometimes she paints from life, other times from photos. “I prefer to paint from life, because then I can really directly study the person and make better artistic choices,” she explains.
The artist’s passion for portraiture is closely followed by cityscapes, thanks to the striking colors and reflections she often sees on rainy city nights in San Francisco. Whatever the subject of the painting, Fabunmi uses oils and palette knives—four of them, to be exact—to create her works. “I love the loose, contemporary, and textured look that I get with palette knives,” she says.
That said, she Fabunmi doesn’t limit herself in terms of subject, style, or medium. “I get restless and create whatever I feel like sometimes,” she says. “It’s all about what inspires me, and I never want to ignore my artistic inspiration again.”
To learn more about Nina Fabunmi’s artwork and creative process, visit https://ninafabunmi.com. –Lindsay Mitchell
