Collective Presence by Oluwaseyi Awoyomi (Shayee)

Oluwaseyi Awoyomi (Shayee) is a multifaceted Nigerian artist, born into a family of visual and performing artists. Her parents are the famous Nike Okundaye and Prince Twins Seven-Seven. She started at the tender age of three, dancing, singing, and doing textile and painting alongside her mother, Nike Okundaye. She has always found a way to infuse her artistic background and talent in every area of her life. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Entertainment Technology from the New York City College of Technology.  Her ambition is to preserve and promote, to the best of her ability and capacity, the various art media from the generation of the Osogbo School of Art to which her parents belong. She grew up in an artist village and can remember vividly following her mother to different textile markets in search of unique Adire cloths. Shayee derives energy from the patterns in the traditional Adire of the Yoruba people, carrying on their unspoken communication language patterns in all of her works. She has collaborated with various organizations on the art of Adire, the resilience of the women, and their unspoken dialogue. Shayee has worked with reputable organizations such as the Harlem Needle Arts on multiple projects, workshops, commissioned artwork, installations, and shows. In addition, she has collaborated with organizations such as the Bring Back Our Girls, Black Philanthropy Network, NYS Assembly woman Rodneyse Bichotte, Riverside Church, National Black Theater, Nike Art Gallery, and Brooklyn Art Council, NY Citicorp Artist. She is professionally affiliated to Nike Art Center for Art and Culture, Brooklyn Art Council, Harlem Needle Arts, Artority Inc, Huntington Art Council and Art League of Long Island.