Bio
GRAPHY
Data Oruwari, also known as 'The Ancestors' Scribe,' is a Nigerian-born, Virginia-based visionary artist whose work channels divine intelligence and ancestral wisdom.
Working primarily in pen & ink, and gold leaf, her iconographic style, marked by meticulous detail and symbolic depth, explores Afro-spiritual cosmology and the interconnectedness of the spiritual and material realms.
Her art serves as a decolonizing force, reclaiming and restoring spiritual identities fractured by colonial erasure, and inviting contemplation on our collective existence.
Through contemporary hieroglyphs and powerful symbolism, she seeks to inspire healing, awaken higher consciousness, and connect viewers with the soul’s yearning for truth, healing and identity.
Artist Statement
My art is an offering — a labor of love, ritual, and intention to preserve the legacy of those who came before and awaken those yet to be born. It began as a personal journey to reclaim identity, truth, and belonging in the aftermath of colonial disconnection. Growing up amidst the erasure and demonization of Indigenous African ways of being left me psychologically and spiritually fragmented. But within that fragmentation came a call from spirit — one that led me back to the ancestral wisdom, cosmologies, and spiritual technologies my soul had long carried but forgotten.
As The Ancestors’ Scribe, I craft contemporary hieroglyphs — timeless transmissions that convey complex, esoteric ideas through powerful symbolism. These visual messages serve as a bridge between the seen and unseen, the personal and collective, the ancient and modern. Each piece emerges from a ritualistic process of deep listening, trance states, dreams, and ancestral communion. My practice is a living ceremony, an intuitive channeling of divine intelligence that speaks to the soul’s yearning for healing and reconnection. It asserts the relevance of African spiritual knowledge systems in the global conversation on healing and enlightenment.
African spiritual traditions have long been marginalized or misrepresented. My work challenges these narratives by presenting them as potent sources of wisdom that transcend time. Through visual translation of metaphysical concepts, viewers are invited into a dialogue with themselves and the greater cosmos.
Drawing from Afro-Indigenous cosmologies, mystical experiences, and altered states of consciousness, my work weaves symbolism, storytelling, and iconography to preserve and reactivate the esoteric knowledge systems of my lineage. I translate the ineffable — what is felt but not always seen — into form through mark-making, texture, and intuitive design.
These creations are more than visual art; they are sacred tools of decolonization and spiritual restoration. Each piece is both a relic and a roadmap: a vessel of ancestral knowing and a guide toward wholeness. They serve as totemic mirrors that help us remember who we are and reclaim the sacredness of our existence, offering pathways to self-discovery, purpose, and healing.
My work is a sanctuary for remembering — Rooted in the vibrant lineage of African ancestral wisdom, I channel divine intelligence to create transformative art that speaks to the soul’s longing for truth, identity & Purpose.
- Data Oruwari
exhibitions
2024 | Walsh Gallery: Contemporary African Spirituality, New Jersey.
2019 | Art X Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria.
2018 | Sister: The Art of Nigerian Women at the Columbus Metropolitan Library, Ohio.
2018 | AMREF Art Ball by AMREF Health Africa, New York.
2017 | Standing Out II at SMO Contemporary Art Gallery, Lagos.
2016 | All Black Everything at the Winter Studio Art Centre, New York.
2016 | Panorama Contemporary Art Fair, Lagos, Nigeria
2016 | Afro Frontal, curated by OSENGWA, Washington, D.C.
featured in
Data Oruwari and Diana Ejaita: Mapping cultural heritage by The Art Momentum
The Art Of Nigerian Women by Chukwuemeka Ben Bosah
Art Reconnects Humanity by Wolf & Wilhemine
Data Oruwari: Master of the Micropen by Design Indaba
Myth, Meaning, and Healing: The Visionary Art of Nigerian Illustrator Data Oruwari by African Digital Art
Visionary Art, Healing and African Spirituality by Creative Soul Collective