Feel Yinkore stand up for others through her art
This new-generation digital artist has become a solid source of representation for minorities in the NFT space.
For many artists, art is more than just a beautiful painting to look at or a calculated splash of colours and textures that pulls a room together. While it’s often appreciated for its beauty or emotional pull, art is the expression of their rawest emotions.
Yinkore is a self-taught Nigerian digital artist whose pieces primarily focus on the representation of black women. After finding digital art in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic, her hobby has evolved into a solid medium of representation in the Web3 community.
Before Yinkore became an artist, she first learned to speak up for others, from tweets against sexism to her advocacy for mental health. For one so expressive about her beliefs, it’s no wonder her art is an embodiment of the things she stands for.
Legally binding
Although it would take years for Yinkore to start practising her art professionally, it always served as an escape for her. “Art was my distraction from law. [But] as soon as art became my distraction, law started feeling worse than it felt before.”
By her third year studying law in the University of Lagos, she felt stuck and stayed that way until her bar exam. “I just stopped liking it. I was unhappy, and it got worse as time went on. After the pandemic, I no longer cared if I even passed the bar exam.”
Notwithstanding, and much to her surprise, she passed, and things went relatively well after that. But Yinkore was restless. “Law wanted to kill me.” That, coupled with the stress of working in Lagos and long hours spent in traffic, was too much for her.
So, she resigned from her job and began a search for the next big thing she could do.
Speaking through art
Many who belong to minority groups—think of queer people and black women in white, male-dominated spaces—often have to fight to prove their voice is just as important as the next person’s, and their uniqueness is no reason to take up less space than others.
So, as a person with multiple minority statuses, Yinkore uses her art to explore the intersectionality of statuses by creating pieces that focus on the representation of minority groups.
Every one of her pieces is an ode to the rich brown skin of the black woman, showcasing the vibrant colours and different textures dominant in the rich African cultures she portrays. You could almost reach into her work and pull out a hand coated with shea butter and love from a community of strong women.
Finding solace in the arts
Yinkore’s art is personal to her. It not only serves as a means of expression or an escape; it’s also healing. “Once I paint, everything feels better. That's my therapy. When I’m sad, art is there to help me. When I don't know what to do, I just draw lines.”
She incorporates this art style into many of her pieces, though spotting them may require a closer inspection of her work. “I hide them well, but you’d see lines in the background of every single piece I’ve worked on.”
Art was always Yinkore’s close companion, an escape from the harsh realities she faced. Perhaps, she says, that is why it became so important to her.
“I wasn’t really afraid to delve into the arts. I’m just a realistic person. We’re in Nigeria, and artists don’t make that much money from art, even the super-popular ones. I needed to have a security blanket, which for me was legal consultancy. My mum also wanted me to get called to the bar before exploring art, which was what I ended up doing.”
She considers her mum as her biggest supporter. “She always told me to concentrate on my art because I’d be shocked by how much it would give to me, and I never really took her seriously. I was like, ‘Art? Mummy, how?’”
So, when this casual hobby evolved to being showcased on Times Square, one of the biggest screens in the world, Yinkore called her mum immediately. “She screamed.”
The move to Web3
Her venture into the NFT space happened at the right time, Yinkore believes. “If I hadn’t quit my job, I wouldn’t have joined the NFT space. With joblessness, you don’t really have an option.”
Before she learnt about NFTs, the only thing Yinkore did with her laptop was watch movies. So, this new phenomenon didn’t pique her interest until she had no job to hold on to and a little prodding from a friend.
“I didn’t know what I was doing. I had no knowledge or anything. My friend, Z4, said I should try it out, and it ended up working out better than I planned.”
Becoming an NFT artist has widened her audience base and given her better recognition as an artist.
Combating prejudice
For all its promise of breaking the mould, the industry still has a long way to go when it comes to women of colour. For instance, art created by women sells for almost 50% less than art made by men.
Though the participation of women and minorities in the Web3 space seems to be steadily increasing, they still have to navigate old biases that can stifle their progress.
It’s no different for Yinkore, and she hopes to change that. “I feel like in the NFT space there’s a lot against me: racism, misogyny, and homophobia. When you’re someone like me who publicly supports these minorities, there’s a lot you face.”
“I love confident women, and I project that into the paintings I make. Who doesn’t love a baddie? I’m happy with the quality of my work, and I’m unapologetic about what it looks like.”
Over time, she’s learnt to accept that she will be treated differently as a result of these differences, even if it means missing opportunities because of her feminist views on Twitter.
Her experiences as a Nigerian feminist opened her to a lot of criticism, but it also toughened her skin and taught her how not to react to the terrible things said to her. “At some point, there’s nobody that can shrink you; it’s going to take a lot. I'm just used to it, to being called problematic or being too much. It doesn’t make me shrink.”
Navigating the NFT space
As someone who did art for so many years before she got recognised, Yinkore finds that just showing up does half of the work for you. “There are many dark days as an artist. You have to find out if it’s what you love, so even on the bad days, you’re ready to show up and keep trying to figure out what works for you. “Once you get a formula that works, stick with it for a while until it stops working. Then find another.”
In showing up, it becomes easier for artists to get noticed without being drowned out by the large number of creators in the space. That way, people can reach out to them for collaborative or standalone projects.
She advises, however, that artists conduct thorough research on the people who reach out to them before they initiate business conversations. This wouldn’t only filter and protect them from potentially disastrous clients but also help them sync better, especially for collaborations.
“Usually, when I feel like you respect the community of people I represent, I’m good. When people reach out to me, I can often determine if it’s something I can work towards or say no. There are some red flags I take note of, like if they make no effort to pronounce my name right, even after several corrections or if they’re not already working with a person of colour. Other considerations are if it’s something I know would cost a lot of money and time.”
The future
Yinkore considers herself blessed to have received many of the things she desired this year, like her art being featured at Times Square. “Right now, I’m just trying to be grateful for how far I've come and for all the opportunities. Anything that comes after will be nice.”
There are other things, she points out, that she would also love to achieve.
“SuperRare would be nice, and maybe a Nifty drop. I would also love to work with Time. An institute and a magazine drop would be nice, and more sales because I would like to sell out on Foundation again. I would like more Web3 commissions because commissions are great in the Web3 space, and they’re funding my lifestyle.”
But the most important thing for Yinkore, amidst these, is to concentrate on her art and improve on it.
“2020 made me realise, money or not, art would always be a part of me. But I’m nowhere near perfect. I’m incorporating all the different styles of art that I do because I want to get to a point where all the styles I have in my head marry one effect, if that’s possible. So, I want to work a lot on my texture, my drawing, and a lot of my colours just to get better.”
While we may not expect any more new art from Yinkore this year, it’s refreshing to learn that she is focusing on learning more and honing her craft.
Five things to know about Yinkore
She really likes dishes made from pasta and potatoes.
She enjoys teen dramas, and she’s currently re-watching Gossip Girl. Some of her favourite shows are Desperate Housewives, Modern Family, and Grace & Frankie.
She hardly listens to music, unless when high.
It’s easy for her to lose track of time while painting. So, to save time, she follows a strict morning routine and hires someone to do her meal prep every week.
One of her favourite art pieces is the Spirit of Wand. It’s her first piece that sold out on Foundation, and she considers it to be her most vulnerable piece.
You can follow Yinkore and her work on Twitter, Instagram, and her website.
Thank you to:
💛Esther Eze for conducting this interview
💛Ruth Zakari for editing
💛Success for transcribing
💛Seni Oremodu for publishing