Princess Elizabeth Olowu is a Nigerian sculptor and the daughter of Oba Akenzua II, who was a leader of the Edo people in what is now Benin City, Nigeria.
Her Father was the paramount ruler of Benin kingdom and he is known as the King (Oba) Akenzua II, As a child, Olowu worked alongside her mother, learning to she sculpt items related to palace life and ritualistic needs.
Her father encouraged her education and interest in sculpting despite local superstitions discouraging women from entering bronze foundries.
In 1979 she graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, and by the year 1981 she had begun to work on her post-graduate study, which included her thesis on “An Investigation into Benin Cire Perdue Casting Technique."
This accomplishment made her the university's first female recipient of a Master of Fine Arts and the first Nigerian woman to cast bronze.
[2] As a female artist, Elizabeth Olowu's main desire is to "liberate womenfolk from the shackles of men, deprivation and taboos".