Summie Wright is a talented artist from Lagos, Nigeria, born into a family of creatives, is now flourishing in the UK art scene. Her work is inspired by Nigerian culture, stories, and symbolism, delving into themes of identity, memory, and the beauty of African communities. Wright aims to connect the past and present through visually captivating and emotionally resonant historical narratives.Using acrylics, threadwork, and digital illustration, the artist adds texture and depth to their storytelling. Their abstract humanist paintings and illustrations draw from personal experiences, family history, Yoruba traditions, and the art of storytelling passed down through generations. Wright is an artist that is definitely someone worth following as they embark on their exciting artistic journey.
Please, can you tell us about your background and why you chose art as your career?
You were born in Lagos and relocated to the UK. What were your reasons for moving, and how has this impacted your practice as an artist?
How does your African heritage influence your art?
Can you tell us about your work and any recurring themes you explore?
My work is centred on identity, heritage, and human connection. I’m fascinated by how people’s environments and histories shape who they are. Recurring themes in my practice include the interplay between humanity and nature, the African diaspora, and emotional storytelling through portraiture and abstract figurative art.
Can you tell us about your inspiration for It Takes a Village, The Ties That Bind Us, Ayo, Ayanfe and Melodic Embrace?
Each of my works stems from a desire to explore connections: cultural, emotional, or spiritual. The Ties That Bind Us reflects the invisible threads of community and kinship that hold us together. Ayo, meaning “joy” in Yoruba, celebrates inner peace and resilience in the face of life’s complexities. Melodic Embrace is a lyrical portrayal of harmony within relationships, inspired by the comforting rhythm of shared experiences.
I often use exaggerated features in my paintings as a deliberate stylistic choice, influenced by Hannah Höch’s photomontage work. Like Höch, I aim to challenge traditional ideas about identity, community, and belonging, embracing distortion and abstraction as tools for deeper truth-telling. My work also celebrates the beauty of imperfection, drawing inspiration from the organic irregularities found in nature.
Using bold colours and geometric shapes, along with elongated, abstract forms, I strive to represent a universal human experience—one that transcends identity, geography, and background. My work portrays a series of relationships and interactions, exploring how we connect with ourselves, with each other, and with our environments.
Visually, my palette is also inspired by Bolaji Ogunwo, whose expressive use of colour and texture reflects a vibrant and unapologetic celebration of African identity. Across all my work, I aim to create art that is emotionally resonant, rooted in heritage, and reflective of both personal and collective memory.
You are a published author. Can you tell us about Luna’s Spaceship Idea and Milo Makes Friends?
Absolutely! Luna’s Spaceship Idea is a fun kids’ book I wrote and illustrated to get kids, especially girls, excited about STEAM stuff: science, tech, engineering, art, and math. Luna is a super curious girl who dreams up a dragon-shaped spaceship. I wanted to show that building cool things and dreaming big isn’t just for boys, and the art helps bring her wild imagination to life.
Milo Makes Friends is a softer, more personal story. It’s inspired by my own experience as an immigrant who’s had to say goodbye to family and friends. Milo’s story is about finding new friends and feeling at home, even when things are tough and different. The illustrations have a warm, cozy vibe to match that feeling of comfort and hope.
On top of that, I also recently co-authored and published an academic paper in the Qualitative Market Research journal about how people experience voice assistants in retail. It might sound a bit techy, but really, it’s about how people connect with new technology and how it changes their everyday lives. Whether it’s through my books or my research, I’m all about telling stories that help people relate and feel understood.
How do you see your practice developing over the next few years?
I see my work evolving to include more public art and community-based projects, both in the UK and Nigeria. I’d like to collaborate more with schools, cultural institutions, and other creatives to use art as a tool for education and healing. I also plan to publish more children’s books and experiment with animation and immersive media.
Do you have any exhibitions coming up that you can tell us about?
What are your ambitions as an artist?
My ambition is to continue telling stories that matter, stories that celebrate culture, identity, and resilience. I want to create work that resonates across continents, educates young minds, and leaves a lasting impact. I hope to become a cultural ambassador of sorts, using my art and writing to build bridges and open dialogues globally.
How does your work contribute to the contemporary African art scene or diaspora discourse?
My work contributes to the contemporary African and diaspora art landscape by offering a perspective rooted in emotional continuity, cultural memory, and everyday connection. While much of the discourse rightly addresses themes of displacement, identity crises, or postcolonial tension, I choose to focus on the quieter, often overlooked narratives, those of belonging, joy, lineage, and spiritual inheritance. Through elongated figures, layered symbolism, and warm, earthy tones, I present African identity not just as a political construct, but as an emotional and communal experience that adapts, evolves, and endures across borders.
My art aims to act as a bridge between generations, between geographies, and between traditional African aesthetics and contemporary global conversations. I see my practice as a celebration of the invisible threads that connect us: touch, memory, music, storytelling, and ritual. These are not always loud or confrontational, but they are powerful. In doing so, I hope to expand the vocabulary of what African diaspora art can be, not only a response to rupture but also a meditation on resilience and rootedness.
How does your work compare to others exploring similar themes, and where do you stand out or diverge?
Artists like Njideka Akunyili Crosby or Toyin Ojih Odutola also explore cultural memory and hybrid identity, often through intricate detail or formal portraiture. Where I diverge is in my symbolic language and abstraction. My figures are less representational and more expressive; they exist almost as emotional archetypes rather than specific people. I deliberately exaggerate form, gesture, and proportion to communicate something deeper than realism, something spiritual, symbolic, and felt.
I also embrace a cross-medium approach, working in acrylics, oil, thread, digital illustration, and print. This flexibility allows me to tell layered stories, weaving tactile and visual traditions together in a way that feels modern yet deeply rooted. I believe my voice stands out through the emotive clarity of my work, the way I use colour, form, and symbolism to invite reflection, connection, and cultural affirmation.
Where others may deconstruct identity, I often focus on reassembling it through love, through ritual, and inherited joy. That’s the space I inhabit within this broader artistic conversation.
How does your work compare to others exploring similar themes, and where do you stand out or diverge?
Artists like Njideka Akunyili Crosby or Toyin Ojih Odutola also explore cultural memory and hybrid identity, often through intricate detail or formal portraiture. Where I diverge is in my symbolic language and abstraction. My figures are less representational and more expressive; they exist almost as emotional archetypes rather than specific people. I deliberately exaggerate form, gesture, and proportion to communicate something deeper than realism, something spiritual, symbolic, and felt.
I also embrace a cross-medium approach, working in acrylics, oil, thread, digital illustration, and print. This flexibility allows me to tell layered stories, weaving tactile and visual traditions together in a way that feels modern yet deeply rooted. I believe my voice stands out through the emotive clarity of my work, the way I use colour, form, and symbolism to invite reflection, connection, and cultural affirmation.
Where others may deconstruct identity, I often focus on reassembling it through love, through ritual, and inherited joy. That’s the space I inhabit within this broader artistic conversation.
