Peju Alatise (born 1975) is a Nigerian artist, poet, writer, and a fellow at the National Museum of African Art, part of the Smithsonian Institution.
[7] Alatise cites artist David Dale, Bruce Onabrakpeya, Nike Monica Davies, Susanna Wenger, Nigerian and Yoruba culture as influences of her artwork.
[9] Alatise first considered art as a career at the age of 15, when she viewed an exhibition by Nigerian artist David Dale.
[9] When Alatise expressed her plan to become an artist, her father discouraged the idea, feeling that art was a waste of time; he wanted his daughter to choose an occupation that was more economically stable.
[9] During her college years Alatise began to explore her interests in art by visiting Jakande, a crafts market in Lagos.
[10] According to Vogue, "Alatise defines her artistic practice as a search for truth and to this end much of her work centres on women in Nigeria and on the political and religious issues at the heart of the country.
"[7] Strongly believing that an artist should depict the world she lives in, Alatise strives to visualize social issues of her country and personal experience.
[11] Over the years, Alatise's work has put her on a pedestal with many other distinguished Nigerian female artists like Nike Davies Okundaye, Lara Ige-Jacks, and Ndidi Dike.
[12] Although Alatise started her artistic career by exploring three-dimensional illusions on two-dimensional surfaces,[11] she also creates through literature.