Timi Oni (Timi Light)

Timi Oni, otherwise known as Timi Light, is a contemporary visual artist based in Ibadan, Nigeria. His moniker, Light, metaphorically represents the guiding force behind his creative journey; a symbol of clarity, vision, and illumination that shapes both his art and purpose.

 

From an early age, Timi was drawn to creation; sketching the world around him and turning his observations into comic strips, which he sold to classmates. This early passion for storytelling through images gradually evolved into a lifelong pursuit of expression through visual art.

 

He went on to study Fine and Applied Arts at Adeyemi University of Education, Ondo, where he earned his degree and began to define a style rooted in humanity, spirituality, and hope. His works draw deeply from lived experiences, reflecting the realities of his society and the resilience of its people. Through his art, Timi explores how individuals, particularly those from his community, continue to flourish despite adversity, embodying strength, peace, and renewal.

 

In his words:

“Just like a tree reveals its beauty through its flourishing green leaves, an expression of life within, I use lime green highlights on my characters to depict the thriving spirit of people of colour: newness, strength, and vitality. I paint peace, I paint hope, and I paint love in my images. We blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree.”

 

At the core of Timi’s work lies his faith and understanding of divine life. His art is founded on the belief that the divine nature within every believer, worked in them by the Spirit cannot be hidden; it radiates outward and becomes visible to all. The lime green highlights in his paintings symbolize this manifestation of divine life: just as the green leaves of a tree reveal that life flows within it, so do the glowing greens in his characters reveal the life of God within them. They embody a nature that is not of this world, the divine nature made visible through human form.

 

Timi also emphasizes that being heavenly does not only mean dwelling in heaven, but living on earth as one who carries heaven within. To him, an individual can walk in human experience while expressing a heavenly reality, a divine nature lived out on earth. His art reflects this truth: that one can be an earthly being with a heavenly essence, radiating what has been worked within by the Spirit.

 

Through this visual language, Timi invites viewers to perceive and feel that divine radiance, to sense the life that transforms and flourishes beyond the natural. His hope is that every encounter with his work awakens a recognition of that same divine possibility within each person.

 

Working primarily in acrylic and mixed media on canvas, Timi’s paintings have found homes in private collections and have been showcased in notable exhibitions locally and internationally, including Sotheby’s African Modern and Contemporary Art Auction in London.

 

Selected Exhibitions

- Pursuit of Happiness – Group Exhibition, Windsor Gallery, Victoria Island, Lagos (2025)

- African Modern and Contemporary Art Auction/Exhibition – Sotheby’s, London (2023)

- Souls and Spirits – Group Exhibition, Voltz Clarke Gallery, New York, curated by Paul Conliffe (2022)

- Essence of a Black Woman – Group Exhibition, Motor House, Baltimore, MD, New York (Presented by BlkArtHouse) (2021)

- Infinity – Virtual Group Exhibition, 17 Amhurst Terrace, Lower Clapton, London E8 2BT, United Kingdom (Curated by The Holy Art) (2021)