Yingi Mao explores the simplicity of life in Everyday group exhibition

By Onyeka Ezike

In a world where special recognition is rarely given to the simplicity of life, multi-talented artist Yingi Mao has explored the simplicity of daily life through familiar textures, memories, scents, and objects that often go unnoticed in her exhibition, themed “Everyday”. The theme reflects the artist’s desire to honour daily life experiences by approaching them with grace rather than judgment. The exhibition runs from November 2, 2025, to January 31, 2026, at the Ikoyi Plaza, Lagos.

The exhibition will feature eleven recent amazing paintings on canvas artwork by Yingi Mao, a talented Nigerian contemporary visual artist working between Lagos and London. Her artistic expression spans visual art, Music, and Fashion, and she also wears the crown of an entrepreneur.

Born in Port Harcourt, Mao began creating art in 2018 as a means to explore the relationship between love, wisdom, and spiritual understanding. Guided by intuition rather than formal training, she uses rope, wood, and symbolic forms to visualize emotional and theological ideas.

Her practice has since evolved into a celebration of presence, ease, beauty, and the sacred found in daily life. Rooted in her Christian faith, Mao’s work reflects her ongoing journey of spiritual growth, healing, and joyful embodiment of the everyday. Over time, everyday practice has become not just a technique, but a way of being able to treat life with ease, patience, and softness.

The Exhibition featured ten of her amazing artworks, such as the “Super Heart,” a 50 x 61cm acrylic on canvas, which depicts the importance of the heart in our everyday life. The heart can be described as the engine room for direction and purpose. The exhibition was an opportunity for Yingi to showcase her divine talent and love for cent with one of her works titled “Baby Rose”, a 50 x 61 cm acrylic on canvas, which is relatable to the feminine gender. The work Baby Rose depicts the scent of an infant’s baby material, such as the Powder, the cream, and the soup used for taking care of a baby. The work shows the artist’s introspective aspect about life and what she loves to do.

Another work that was showcased was titled the “Blackboard”, a 61 x 91 cm acrylic on canvas work. The artwork represents the importance of alphabets and numbers in our daily life, showcasing the value they bring as we revolve around purposeful in our everyday life. One work that resonated at the exhibition was titled “Peace”, a 40 x 50 cm acrylic on canvas work, which represents a reflection of our everyday life.

Also exhibiting his works in a group exhibition was Gideon Chukwu, a photo artist, who showcased some memorial pictorial images of his experience in Jos, the Plateau State Capital. Gideon Chukwu, who is a director of photography and Cinematographer, finds passion in taking pictures and capturing every moment through the lens to tell a story.

One of his pictorial crafts captures the resilience of a woman from a local community called Chibok in Borno State. The Community made the news in 2014, when over 276 Chibok school girls were kidnapped by the Islamist militant group Boko Haram. Gideon Chukwu’s portrait black and white image, captured the story of resilience from one of the mothers of the girls kidnapped at Chibok girls’ school, looking into the future with a smile despite the circumstances around her.

Gideon, a skilled photographer from Anambra State, featured in Kunle Afolayan’s Movie October 1 as the Camera assistant, his biggest remarkable project and blood vessel directed by Moses Inwang. Another image showcased by Gideon Chukwu was that of Hope, a Man riding on a bicycle returning from the Farm. He uses his lens to tell stories of hope, resilience, and determination, and his works includes ten pictorial memories of our everyday stories.

According to the artist, the government needs to take the creative industry seriously by creating an enabling environment for younger artists to express their creativity through funding. He said, “The government should create a bridge that connects the younger artists and the established artists. This will enable more artist to express their creativity on the global stage.

Speaking at the exhibition, a family friend of the artist, Precious Bestmann, said, “Art is a medium of expression, and the artwork ‘Baby Rose’ resonates with me, because it tells the story of motherhood. Also, the one about ‘Peace’ is a good artwork, because it tells the story of a lady in her thoughts, as the past fades away, she sees a brighter future ahead,” she added.

She also shared a memory of a sad experience of how she lost a dear aunty of hers to the cold hands of untimely death. She said, “I was so close to my aunty to the extent that the dress I made for her burial a few years ago, I still wear it to church till now, just to keep her memory alive. Anytime I brought out the dress, it reminded me of her and our shared memories. Even the notebook that had her pictures, I still have them till now, after years of her burial,” she noted.

Another guest at the exhibition, Mr Samuel Stephen, said, “Art is an expression of our soul, and the artwork that resonates with him is that of ‘Heart’, which he described as a tool for becoming what we are today. He shared an experience of betrayal at work, “The recent experience I had was one of my staff members who falsified figures, and I trusted him so much that experience broke me and made me set a standard not to trust anybody. Before I allow you into my space, you have to work for it and earn it.

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