Ekundayo was born in Hawaii in 1983. When he was still just a little boy, his parents split up and his father smuggled him out of the state. For years, his mother searched in vain for him. When Ekundayo was 11, his father passed away from lung cancer, leaving the young boy to live with his sister in California. He fell into a dark phase; getting involved in fights, stealing and running with a bad crowd. It was at 13 that Ekundayo discovered art and his life began to change. His first artistic influence was a graffiti notebook by his uncle; a notebook that the youngster pored over eagerly, copying out every sketch he saw there, before turning his hand to creating his own art.

A few years later, he was returned to his mother in Hawaii where he finished his schooling. He then moved back to California, living with his sister and brother-in-law, both of whom encouraged him to attend art school, which he duly did. After several years of study, Ekundayo decided to make his own way in the worlds of street art and fine art. He now creates art in many different media, on many different surfaces. He has completed dozens of street art installations, from small art works on fences to large-scale paintings that span several storeys.

Ekundayo’s style is a combination of classic graffiti perspective warping and technical fine art theories. He uses ink, acrylic, gouche, watercolor and carving techniques to create his fine art – somehow recreating the spray can effects of graffiti art without actually using a spray can to paint with. But the most interesting part of Ekundayo’s art is his modus operandi; his desire to turn his dark past into vibrant murals that express all the joys and pains of life. He’s using art as a tool to effect emotional healing in his life. As Thinkspace so aptly puts it; “Ekundayo’s work expresses the struggle of life and how those struggles and burdens can either inspire us to change in a constructive way or weigh us down by our own inability to change.” Ekundayo’s art changes as he changes, but it also seems to be having an effect on the artist himself. This is one artist with a truly deep relationship with himself that he expresses through his art.