​A few weeks ago, I attended an independent art exhibition opening, celebrating African inspired art. I sort of walked around as you do in these events, waiting for something to hit me hard in the pit of my stomach (a tad dramatic I know, but you know what I mean, no?).



I saw some great work, some greater work and some that a wise old friend of mine would describe as 'naive art' (don't ask) but when I saw this painting, 4 women, I knew instantly that I had arrived.



It reminded me of Nina Simone's 4 women, a track that I had the pleasure of discovering last year. Everything about it made me think of Aunt Sarah, Saffronia, Sweet Thang and Peaches. And the more I looked at it, the more I was convinced that this must have been the inspiration. I love how the artist, Mode used such a delicate medium to depict such complex emotions. It felt like each of the women had a unique story that was being only but mildly betrayed by their eyes. It had some raw sort of power to it.



Can you tell I was hooked? I was a woman so obsessed that I messaged my friends in a typical who wants to be a millionaire 'phone a friend' style to ask.



Shoe or Art? They told me, 'You should buy art that you love'! I agreed.

Anyway, the organisers of the event put me in touch with the artist, to whom I proceeded to waffle on in the same psychotic way I just did up above about Nina Simone and 4 women.

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​Alas, it was not necessarily her inspiration but the interesting thing was that when she did listen to the song, she too could see what I saw. It is still unclear as to how much of that could be attributed to the power of hindsight but just on the off chance that it wasn't, isn't it interesting how Nina's women are still relevant today, even though the artist did not specifically have them in mind when she created this piece? The mind ponders...





​Modé Aderinokun is an up and coming artist based in Nigeria, with a preference for watercolour and acrylics. 



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​By Winnie Awa

This article originally appeared in With Aplomb Blog