I sew through the edges so the work stands without a frame: open, without barrier, to be seen, touched, felt.
Pearl Adebisi (Pearl Olufunto Adebisi, b. 1994, Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria) began her art career under difficult conditions, an experience that shaped her understanding of resilience, purpose and faith, and grew up inspired by the strong women of her family, in a world where care, support and responsibility were the foundations of daily life. A self-driven artist, she graduated with a B.A. (Ed.) in Fine and Applied Arts from Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo, affiliated to Obafemi Awolowo University, earning a Second Class Upper degree and the award of Best Female Graduating Student of her department (2018).
Adebisi works mainly with yarn on canvas. She uses thread because it holds closeness and memory: soft but not weak, fragile yet enduring, it reflects human experience, gentle on the surface yet layered with strength. The needle becomes a tool of intention, piercing and connecting, revealing unseen effort and quiet discipline; her colours sit in between, not extreme, like life itself. She sews through the edges, so that her works stand without a frame, open, without barrier, to be seen, touched, felt and experienced. Through embroidery she tells stories rooted in everyday life, identity and resilience, translating emotion into texture in bodies of work such as "Breath Beneath the Soil", "Favoured Merchandise" and "Títa ríro làá kolà", each reflecting personal and collective human experience.
Alongside her practice, Adebisi has taught art in schools across Ondo, Osun and Plateau States, and is a registered member of the Society of Nigerian Artists (2023) and of the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria. She has exhibited in group shows at the Shodex Garden and Gallery, Lagos (2023), and the Gemini Art Gallery, Lagos (2022), and taken part in the +234 Art Fair at the Ecobank Pan-African Centre, Lagos (2025, 2026), and the 3rd Ibadan Art Fair (2022). In 2024 she participated in the National Economic Summit Art Competition, Abuja (NES #30), and in the Life in My City Art Festival competitions; in 2025 she completed the Life in My City Art Festival residency in Enugu, followed by the festival's professional bootcamp (2026). She lives and works in Akure.