Fadekemi Ogunsanya: A Miracle is a Reasonable Thing to Ask For

Intricately hand-embroidered textiles invite viewers into a narrative of myth and consequence shaped by Yoruba oral tradition. Through a series of beaded Adire cloth works, Nigerian-born artist Fadekemi Ogunsanya revisits the story of Oluronbi—a woman whose desperation leads her to make a fateful promise to a mystical tree spirit—in a visual exploration of power, autonomy and belief.

The exhibition, A Miracle is a Reasonable Thing to Ask For, is on view at Nina Johnson from May 22 through August 7. It marks Ogunsanya’s first solo exhibition in the United States and features nine new textile works that sequentially unfold the Yoruba folktale. Highlights include Joy Is Entirely Possible, which captures the tension between gratitude and obligation, and The Impossible, Too, Bends to Faith When Summoned Gently, a dramatic rendering of the tale’s climactic reckoning.

Ogunsanya, who holds a master’s degree in architecture from London’s Architectural Association, is based between Lagos and London. Her practice draws from West African storytelling to address broader questions of gender roles, inherited duty and the intersection of tradition with contemporary life.

The exhibition is presented in Nina Johnson’s Upstairs Gallery in Miami’s Little Haiti neighborhood.