Yemisi Wilson | Swedish–Nigerian Sculptor
Yemisi
Wilson
Swedish–Nigerian sculptor Yemisi Wilson, contemporary sculptor & artist. Working in marble, granite, alabaster, and bronze—bridging heritage, identity, and the material memory of stone.
Querciola Quarry | Carrara, Italy
About the Artist
Yemisi Wilson
Yemisi Wilson is a Swedish–Nigerian sculptor based in Stockholm, known for her contemporary stone works in marble, granite, alabaster, and bronze. Trained in Italy, her work explores heritage, identity, and the material memory of stone. Her practice bridges craft and concept — grounding ancestral narratives within modern form.
Recent exhibitions include Hårda Tungor at Lokstallet Artspace and group shows at Lokstallet Konsthall, alongside public art commissions for Huddinge Hospital and the Municipality of Tjörn. Her work appears in both private and public collections across Sweden and Europe.
My Work
I often leave as much as possible of the stone itself, in some sort of awe or admiration for the story locked inside; the millions and billions of years of their creation, and the remains of ancient cultures with their testimonies. The historical use of stone as a material of memory-commemoration is perhaps born of that distant past, that will also connect with the future.
Stillness & Stone
Recent Shows
Art at the New Adult Emergency Unit – Huddinge Hospital Area
Developed by Locum with Region Stockholm’s Cultural Administration, the new adult emergency unit at Karolinska Huddinge weaves art into care itself. In 2025, Yemisi Wilson’s stone sculptures found their place in the waiting room—silent companions offering quiet solace amid uncertainty. For Wilson, stone remembers; it carries history and the weight of time. Shaped by hand yet open to the viewer, her forms bridge care and contemplation. Here, art becomes architecture for breathing—a pause within the pulse of the hospital.
Timeline
Recent Work
2023
Solo Exhibition ”Yemisi Wilson Sculpture in stone and bronze” Konsthallen ABC, Vällingby, Stockholm, Sweden.
Group exhibition in the historical lime kiln at the Island Oaxen, outside Södertälje, Sweden
Rosendahl Garden Party, Royal Djurgården, Stockholm. Sculptures in marble are exposed in the outdoor area of the festival.
2021-2022
2022
Exhibition on the island of Oaxen in Ettan’s lime kiln.
“Ancestors” Solo exhibition at Galleri Artsight, Stockholm.
2021
Galleri Nord, Örebro, Group Show. Yemisi’s sculpture is shown with Paintings by Arjuna Geir Aasehaug (November).
Horisont Hospital, Ulleråkers: invited to do a weeklong body of work at this ex-mental asylum which today is a cultural site. Subject: Augusta Strömberg in marble as well as a memorial plaque in marble for the deceased patients in the cemetery.
Landsort Skulpturön. Showed two hippos in concrete by the water and a head in gray granite
Oaxen, 26 sculptors exhibit in Ettan’s lime kiln on the island of Oaxen,(July).
12 Sculptors from the Sculptors’ Association exhibit at Ekebyhov Castle’s park and gallery (June).
Research week for 10 artists at Horisont Hospital, Ulleråkers Hospital Uppsala, through Konstfrämjandet Uppland and Uppsala Municipality.
“Dialogue” The solo exhibition at Gallery Studio Animar
Flat Octopus, Exhibition Case presents: “When will this end?” by Yemisi Wilson
Knivsta Municipality acquires a bronze hippopotamus and a horse head in yellow marble from Siena to be placed outdoors in the public space.
Uppsala Municipality acquires a marble rhinoceros for a school in Gottsunda.
In The Press
“The world-renowned sculptor‘s ongoing exhibitions pay homage to her grandmothers, Ebunola and Anna, and they deeply explore her Nigerian-Swedish heritage, reflecting on family history, roots and identity using materials such as alabaster, marble and black granite. Her latest show is at the Southnord art gallery in Stockholm, where Zimbabwean-Swedish artistic director, Marcia Harvey Isaksson, ensures that there is always space set aside for Black and Afro-Nordic artists…”
– WIZZ MAGAZINE
Photo & Article by Lola Akinmade Åkerström
Thanks to African and Caribbean influences, Stockholm has become a mix of bold flavours and compelling art…Afro-Swedes shaping the cultural landscape…Sculptor Yemisi Wilson guides me through her exquisite carvings made of granite and alabaster while we discuss her fascinating background. Her dad hails from Nigeria, while her mother is Swedish…
Latest Work & News
Shows & Bodies of Work
Series of Work | Projects | Themes
Click image to see project page
There’s a thread connecting how Yemisi approaches each new assignment: she often dwells in the sphere of memory. She moves between an unconscious collective memory, the history of the place, and her own connotations of events, occurrences, and places.
When I see Yemisi’s animal heads, I want to greet them in the same way I would greet a real animal, and if it were possible, I would like to greet them as an animal would greet another animal. The sculptures bring me down to this extraordinarily intimate level.
Yemisi Wilson has a unique position in the Stockholm art scene as a classically trained artist working in Sweden, who is also operating in the contemporary art scene.