Victor ajayi

As flames consumed the house where my life began in Nigeria, the idea of home fractured early.

Raised in Ireland and now living in Sweden, I’ve never fully belonged to one place, yet I’ve never fully detached either. Shaped by spirituality and a mother whose unwavering prayers continue to guide me, my art transforms the hopes, fears, and scars of my journey into an exploration of identity and belonging – what it means to search for “home” across cultures, timelines, and worlds.

Over time, I came to see this search as a kind of purgatory. Existing between places and identities can feel like inhabiting a space that is neither here nor there, where belonging remains just out of reach. It is this state of mind that forms the emotional foundation of my work.

I construct my works like a film director with world-building at the core of my approach, with color, movement, and light serving as storytelling devices. My inspirations come from film, literature, music, and photography.

The city becomes a metaphor for that purgatory, where cosmic events, fleeting figures, and layered symbolism coexist. In the studio, my process mirrors the tension in my life: I begin with chaotic layers of loose underpainting and scattered charcoal marks, then work toward clarity, allowing form to emerge from darkness. I view every work as a cinematic frame from an ever-evolving film.

Through my work, I invite viewers into an immersive world where they can pause and reflect on their own search for belonging. Rather than offering answers, I hope each work becomes a space for viewers to bring their own experiences and interpretations.

My aim is for the work to speak to the soul, spark cultural dialogue, and remind us that the search for belonging is one of the few experiences that transcends culture, geography, and time, leaving space for each viewer to find their own meaning within it.