Mayowa Nwadike x Arts Gowanus at The Shop BK - The Shop Workspace The Shop Workspace

Oct 20, 2025

Arts Gowanus Artist Spotlight: Mayowa Nwadike

Our Artist Spotlight Series continues with Mayowa Nwadike a self-taught Nigerian multidisciplinary artist based in Manhattan, New York. Working primarily with acrylic and charcoal, his art blends cultural memory and contemporary life into powerful, emotionally layered explorations of gender roles, spirituality, the immigrant experience, and self-discovery.

Mayowa Nwadike has had paintings exhibited in esteemed galleries and museums, including The Whatcom Museum in Washington and The African American Museum in Dallas. He was awarded Best in Show (Mixed Media Art) at the 27th Carroll Harris Simms National Black Art Competition & Exhibition. In addition to painting, he has explored film as a creative medium, with his short film premiering at Outfest in Los Angeles and screening at the Producers Club in New York. Mayowa Nwadike has a distinctive voice and craftsmanship that has earned him features in top publications including Hyperallergic, TimeOut, Observer, and New Visionary Magazine.

As a reminder, in the coming weeks we’ll continue introduce you to our Inaugural Cohort of the seven artists who call the Arts Gowanus studios at The Shop BK home. In this series, you’ll get to see not only their work, but also hear how these artists made their way here. As stewards of a thriving arts community, Arts Gowanus supports, promotes, and advocates for creators in the heart of Brooklyn. Through this series, we aim to shine a light on the creative energy flowing through Gowanus from people to places, and the processes that make this neighborhood special. We had the opportunity to sit down with Mayowa Nwadike and learn more about his practice, read on to learn more.

The Wisp Sings, 2025 Acrylic and Charcoal on Panel 18 x 24 inches

How did you find your way into your practice? Was there a moment when you knew this was it?

When I was younger, there was a tragic incident that occurred. I almost lost my life. I was depressed, lost, and angry. I had hit my lowest point. I needed an outlet for all those emotions or else it would eat me alive, so I started writing poetry as an outlet. It definitely helped, but I felt too exposed with writing.

Then, in 2018, I got accepted into university. On my way to school one day, I saw a guy drawing. Immediately, I thought, “Wow, I could do something like that.” Later that day, I bought my first pencil set and paper.

Drawing started as a way to pass the time. I looked for a way to create visual narratives that told the story of some of the things I was going through. Over time, it became something I couldn’t do without. I was sketching on any surface at any time. Next thing I knew, it was a part of my everyday existence, and I kept growing and evolving my skills, eventually incorporating paint.

What are you currently working on? What ideas, materials, or questions are you exploring in the studio right now?

My next body of work is going to center around something we used to say at home a lot: “I just want to relax and be taken care of”. The piece will draw inspiration from the cover of the book My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh.

I’m hoping to do a series of 10 works that navigate Black rest. Looking at my own lifestyle, I rarely take time to rest. It’s always go-go-go. And the more I talk to others, the more I hear it’s the same for them. So, this series is me making a conscious effort to practice and prioritize rest more in my life, and inviting others to reflect on the ways in which they do (or don’t) rest too.

I just started priming my panels for this, and I’m really excited about it.

What sparks the work? Are you finding more places, people, sounds or falling into research rabbit holes?

When it comes to sound, I am always inspired by it. If there is one thing outside of making visual art I enjoy, it’s sound and how it’s organized. I listen to music constantly, so you see a lot of influence of it in my pieces. Most of my work has been built from ideas I got while listening to music, and there is also a lot of inspiration that comes from the composition and layering of it.

For my new series in particular, before I moved in into my studio, I had already done a lot of research. Particularly, I was asking the variety of people I encounter in my day-to-day life: “What do you define as rest?”. This is what brought me to developing a series that talks about rest in the Black community.

Walk us through a typical day in your studio. Any rituals or quirks that set you up creatively?

I am still navigating what my rituals will be in this new space.

This is the first time I will have a dedicated space to just paint, so there are a lot of things I am learning and adjusting as I go. Some days I like to ease into it, so I come in and do things that aren’t painting first: listening to music, tidying up the space. Other days, I just jump straight into the art. All that to say, there isn’t really a routine I follow quite yet.

Ileya, 2025 Acrylic and Charcoal on Wooden Panel 24 x 36 inches

What tools or techniques do you keep returning to and why?

Lately, it’s been wood.

I’ve been enjoying working on wood for so many reasons. One, it’s sturdy. It eradicates the post-production headaches I had while working with canvas. I don’t have to stress about damaging or losing works (which I have done before). Second, it’s easier for me to peel back layers that I wouldn’t have been able to do on canvas.

Another technique I keep returning to is mixing non-traditional things to build skin tones and textures. For example, I’ve been mixing paint and charcoal powder to find that unique signature I am looking for.

Are there threads that run through your work (form, color, story, humor)? How have they evolved over time?

Since 2022, when I started mixed media work, I’ve been telling the same stories in different ways.

If you put together all my pieces, you will see common threads linking them all together, regardless of subject or composition. This is something I always advise new artists to do: pick a handful of topics that matter to you, and look for new ways to tell those stories. You create recurrence in your work.

Each year, I find myself picking a different focus color. This helps me understand the different colors and how they work. In 2024, it was red. Lately, I have been chasing the view of sunrises and sunsets on green fields from my residency in Minnesota. You see a lot of use of green to create different moods and light forms. It gives a sense of freedom and nostalgia, and I am having a lot of fun with it.

Share one recent work you’re proud of, what’s the story behind it? (Title, year, medium, dimensions)

Ileya and The Wisp Sings. Both of those works challenged me to reinvent my process and everything I knew about composition, lighting, the use of color, tapping into my past and current lived experiences, and construction. I was borrowing lived experiences from other forms of artwork I have done. There was a lot of playfulness in the work too. I was loose, confident. I let the brush lead me. It was a lot of fun.

With Ileya, there is so much meaning packed into one piece.

First, there’s the religious/political subtext to the piece, reflecting on how men are dependent on women. The man is the angel baby in the frame. Her back is turned to him. It shows how women are taking a stand against the expectations of religion and society, because they’re fed up (and rightfully so).

The piece is also a commentary on the power of miscommunication. Here, we see Ileya in the preparation phase for a dinner date. She’s dressed up, ready to go. One of my other paintings, Can We Reschedule (2024), looks at this date from the other perspective. They both accidentally picked the same outfit color scheme. They both were dolled up, ready to go, and wanted it. Yet, the date didn’t happen. Why? Miscommunication.

Lastly, it’s about Black regality and elegance. The closest many Black people see themselves in this way is on TV. It’s time for Black people to tap into the wealth and royalty in their life, because they can, should, and do have it.

What does having a subsidized studio at The Shop BK x Arts Gowanus make possible for you right now? Any unexpected collisions or conversations here that fed a piece?

The subsidized studio makes having a studio possible for me. In New York, having a studio as an artist, especially of this size, is impossible. When I was first looking for studios this big, it was like paying for a second apartment.

Having this studio space gives me separation of work and life. Now, it’s like I’m working in an office. I can do things I couldn’t do when I was working from home. I can schedule studio visits, which I couldn’t before because you don’t want everyone in your home. I can make the studio a space exclusively for creating, and my apartment a space exclusively for resting and living.

It expands my worldview of art as a career. It makes it feel more real and tangible to create art full-time. Shoutout to Arts Gowanus and The Shop BK for making this possible. Artists pay so much to produce the work they produce. When organizations alleviate the stress of finding and paying for a studio space, it gives more mental room for an artist to freely create. It feels like a privilege, and I am really grateful for the opportunity.

While She Was Waiting III (GentleTouch), 2024 Acrylic and Charcoal on Panel 16 x 16 inches

How do you hope people feel (or what do you hope they notice) when they encounter your work?

First: humanity and relatability. I want people from different walks of life to connect with my work. Regardless of gender, skin color, religion, etc., you’ve met someone or you yourself have experienced the themes and feelings of my work. I want people to immediately feel that.

Second, I’ve heard people say that my works portray heavy emotions. And that’s true. I portray a lot of emotions people typically run away from, even though we all have them. I am showing people it’s ok to sit with those emotions. To confront them. Yet, at the same time, there is a lot of humor in my work and layers of jokes that lift the mood if you pay attention. I’m showing that even when life is hard, it doesn’t have to be so serious. It’s not all bad. Two things can be true. Sit with your emotions and deal with them, and still have a laugh now and then. Healing is important, and you can’t do that if you brush it under the carpet.

Third, I want to reshape how people see the Black experience. Growing up in Nigeria and then coming to the U.S., I see how people associate Africa with “poor” or “underdeveloped”. That’s not true. We are wealthy and contribute so much to society. In fact, we are the society. We’ve been here the longest. People steal from us. So we need to start embracing and living the luxury and regality we are.

What’s next for Mayowa Nwadike (shows, experiments, collaborations, dream projects)?

With my work, I am always experimenting, and I am looking to do that in my upcoming collaborations, especially. I’d love to work with music artists (not naming who yet), to merge and navigate my love for sound and art. I’d also love to work with fashion designers. My subjects are very fashionable, and that naturally leans into unique fashion partnership opportunities.

I would also love to work with organizations to give more Black and immigrant kids access to art. I’ve had to go through a lot to make art, and I don’t want this generation of kids to have the same experience. I want to create an avenue to make that happen. I want to give them the tools to succeed – art supplies, lessons, emotional support – so that they know their dreams are within reach. So, if you’re a part of an organization that wants to sponsor this work, reach out. I’d love to work together.

(PS – The next show for Mayowa Nwadike is in Boston, from October 23rd to 27th at the Affordable Art Fair!)

Lightning Round ⚡️