R E S I D E FA L L 2 0 2 1
AN ARTIST WHO SPARKS JOY YINKA ILORI LOOKS TO CREATE COMMUNITY, UPGRADE OUR HOME DECOR, AND MORE
Yinka Ilori wanted to create a sense of positivity with his brightly colored home goods.
46
in 2011 upcycling vintage furniture, inspired as he was by the traditional Nigerian parables and West African fabrics of his childhood, Ilori is now renowned globally for his colorful artistic installations, all of which tell a story. “My childhood was colorful, joyful, and rich and those joyful memories live with me forever,” he says. These days, you’ll find him doing everything from busily designing vibrant tabletop goods in his London studio to planning his next large-scale art installation. We caught up with the 34-year-old designer while he was in Athens where he’s working on yet another exciting project. It was the first time he’d traveled in many months, something he’s lamented, since travel inspires much of his work. His other inspiration is community, the importance of which he learned from a very early age growing up in London. “Community has always been a powerful tool that has influenced my work. I was born to Nigerian immigrants who moved to London and realized early on that communities are the fabric of the U.K. I try to tell good stories in my work and center it around identity. Communities have stories to tell.” And much of his work, colorful as it is, just feels joyful—whether it’s a brightly colored basketball, or an actual basketball court, like the one he designed at London’s Canary Wharf. “It’s about creating joy in spaces where others may not see joy,” he says. “Canary Wharf to me is not an inviting place. It’s an area with big banks and men and women in suits. What’s powerful is that young people from all over are coming to the Canary Wharf and now they’re the fabric of that area. You can change that narrative. It’s about bringing people joy that has nothing to do with money or experience,” he says. We caught up with Ilori to hear more about his work and what’s to come.
This page: Andy Stagg (2); opposite page: Courtesy of Canary Wharf Group
inka Ilori’s world is wrapped in the most vibrant colors. And, while this Y British-Nigerian artist began his career
