Dance with My Father Again

by Adegboyega Arohunmolase

“I am a multidisciplinary artist and art educator based in the United States, working across mixed media and writing to explore themes of migration, identity, and cultural heritage. My practice is shaped by my experience as an immigrant and informed by the visual language of Abstract Expressionism, alongside patterns, materials, and textures rooted in my cultural traditions. Central to my work is an experimental use of materials such as African wax print fabric, hot glue sticks, rug tufting, enameled copper, and pyrography. These materials function as both medium and metaphor, allowing me to examine the layered and fluid nature of identity and belonging. African wax print fabric appears repeatedly in my work as a symbol of heritage and transformation. Through cutting, layering, and reconfiguring the fabric, I reflect on the hybrid condition of cultural identity its ability to evolve while remaining connected to memory and history. Hot glue and rug tufting introduce labor, tactility, and process into my work, mirroring the reconstruction of identity in the context of migration. Writing in both Yoruba and English often embedded through pyrography extends my practice into poetry and personal narrative. Through these combined approaches, my work highlights the resilience, adaptability, and beauty of diasporic identity.”