Rising Stars: Meet EMMANUEL MERIT ADEYEYE of National

Today we’d like to introduce you to EMMANUEL MERIT ADEYEYE.

Hi EMMANUEL MERIT, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I’ve loved art for as long as I can remember. As a kid, I used to draw comics. Just sitting down, filling pages with characters and worlds I made up. Nobody taught me; I just loved it. And when I got older, that love pushed me to actually learn. I taught myself the basics, slowly figuring things out on my own, making a lot of mistakes, and getting better through them.

Then life happened.
In 2021, I had to drop out of school. I couldn’t afford to keep paying my fees, and I didn’t have a plan B. What I did have was my art. So I started taking commissions not because I thought it would lead somewhere, but because I needed to take care of myself. It was that simple and that honest.

Late 2023 was a turning point. I received my first international commission, and it made everything feel possible. That’s when I shifted my focus to original works: no briefs, no clients, just my own voice. I’ve created over 20 original pieces since then.
I’ve shown work across 7 exhibitions, Madhouse Gallery, Limcafe, Next of Kin, and others, and held a solo exhibition in my hometown that felt like a full circle moment.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
NO.
Dropping out of school was painful. There’s a shame that comes with not being able to afford your fees. And starting an art career on top of that with no money and no mentor, it was hard.
Some months were very tight. You finish a job, money enters, and it’s gone already. Then you start the next one and just hope for the best.
I taught myself everything, so there were many times I didn’t even know if I was doing it right. No one to ask, no one to guide me. Just me and the work.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I work with charcoal pencil, acrylic and oil colour on canvas. Everything I make is rooted in emotion and struggle the things people carry inside that they can’t always put into words.
One thing people always notice is the red. I use red heavily across my work because it can describe anything pain, love, survival, danger. It lets me say what I need to say without over explaining. People feel it before they understand it.
The work i’m most proud of is She Saw Everything from my Scarlet Series. It’s about child trauma. Something many people have lived through but rarely see in art.
What sets me apart is that my work is never just decorative. Every piece has a reason for existing. There’s always something underneath and I think people can feel that when they see it and the red theme too.

Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
Honestly, I never had a mentor. My journey has been mostly solo just me figuring things out on my own. So I can’t give advice on finding one from personal experience. What I can say is that I had people I looked up to. Artists whose work I studied closely, whose journey I followed, whose choices I learned from even without them knowing I existed. That taught me a lot. Sometimes you don’t need direct access to someone to learn from them. Their work can be the lesson.

For networking, what worked for me was just showing up consistently.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emryscreation/
• Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/Emrysart186
• Twitter: https://x.com/EmRys_artz
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Emryscreation