Hello, I’m Abiosè.

I am a Nigerian-born artist working between memory, storytelling, and heritage. My studio practice is rooted in the oral traditions and local environments I grew up with in Lagos, particularly the cultural ritual of the TV series Tales by Moonlight, where stories were shared at dusk and carried lessons across generations.

After becoming a mother in the African diaspora, I began retelling these stories—first for my children, and then through painting. This body of work emerges from that act of reconnection and preservation. Each piece draws from African folktales across different countries, where animals, landscapes, and domestic spaces become vessels for memory and meaning.

“Folktales Beyond Borders” explores how stories travel—how they shift across geographies, generations, and identities—while remaining rooted in cultural inheritance. In this way, painting becomes both an archive and a continuation of African oral storytelling traditions.

The works are about heritage, not flashiness. My style is so chosen because I wanted to create in a way that can be understood by all Africans, not just those who have artistic knowledge, not for the elite. I specifically chose 50 x 60cm intimate format because I want them to be small enough to transport when it eventually comes the time to travel on spacecrafts.

Born in Lagos, my early life continues to inform my sensitivity to narrative, community, and resilience. Alongside my artistic practice, I work as a medical doctor in family medicine, a role that deepens my engagement with human stories in another form.

At its core, my work is about transmission: carrying stories forward and creating space for them to live again.