G.A.S. Foundation is thrilled to welcome Nifemi Ogunro, a Nigerian-American designer, woodworker and sculptor, and recipient of the G.A.S. Fellowship Award 2026, to the G.A.S. Farm House in Ikiṣẹ for an eight-week residency. Based in New York, Nifemi’s practice draws inspiration from photography, film, movement and her lived experiences to create functional sculpture. Her work explores wood as both a material and a mode of expression, considering all that it has to offer through making.
During her residency, Nifemi hopes to deepen her understanding of design and craft in Nigeria while exploring ways of working directly with the land. She approaches the residency with an openness to learning from the people, practices and stories she encounters, and hopes these exchanges will introduce her to new perspectives on making. She also looks forward to connecting with practitioners across sculpture, craft and design, visiting workshops and museums, and learning more about farming.
Nifemi's residency is generously supported by the Terra Foundation for American Art. To find out more about supporting G.A.S. Foundation, click here.
Child’s Play in The First Act, 2025. Installation view, ISCP’s Project Space, New York. Photo: Martin Parsekian.
What is the current focus of your creative practice?
I am interested in abstracting common objects and working with scale. I primarily work in wood. My entry point into woodworking and sculpture was through industrial design, a discipline I discovered in high school. After spending three years working in an office, I became disturbed by the notion that my job wasn’t to design for people, but for a market. My practice today became a natural response to this discomfort. I’ve always found it fascinating how wood is milled for mass consumption. My objects are meant to bring wood closer to how it exists in nature. There’s a slowness required in craft that capitalism does not permit, allowing for greater appreciation of materiality and labour. This slowness, respect for resources, and care that craft asks for is where G.A.S. and my practice overlap. I am also interested in who can access my work, and my interest in engaging with my work in alternative ways stems from an understanding that art is a privilege.
Decker, 2023. Courtesy of the artist.
What drew you to apply for this residency and how do you think it will inform your wider practice?
The ability to work closely with the land, have space to research and experiment, and an opportunity to exist in Nigeria outside of the context of family all drew me to this residency. I’m interested in how this time and space away from my usual environment might allow me to approach my practice differently, while developing my relationship to materials, craft and the land.
Can you give us an insight into how you hope to use the opportunity?
I hope to use the opportunity to visit workshops, connect with people and learn from different approaches to craft and making. I also look forward to creating an ephemeral piece using found materials such as wood, farm discards and soil, allowing the work to naturally return to the earth. I hope to share my practice and process with others through a workshop.
Popped Tire, 2025. WARP Group Show, Museum of Art and Wood. Photo: John Carlano.
About Nifemi Ogunro
Nifemi Ogunro is a Nigerian-American designer, woodworker, and sculptor. Nifemi draws inspiration from photography, film, movement and their lived experiences. They have exhibited work at Side Gallery, Barcelona, Spain; and Marta Gallery, Los Angeles, CA among other venues, and their work is in collections including at the Denver Art Museum, Colorado. In 2024, Nifemi was a recipient of The New York Community Trust’s Edward and Sally Van Lier Fund Residency at ISCP and most recently was a WARP Fellow at the Museum for Art in Wood. Nifemi describes their work as functional sculptures and hopes to commit a life around all the lessons wood has to offer as a material and a mode of expression.
Headshot of Nifemi Ogunro. Courtesy the artist.
