Emotional Look at Olawale Gbologe’s New Series

Olawale Gbologe has debuted a new digital art series titled Once, We Were Three, which, according to the artist, represents a broken home or family. The three pieces each feature a man, a woman, and a child (the daughter), evoking the emotional impact of separation.

Once, We Were Three offers a deep and introspective reflection on how separations within families affect children, often more profoundly than people realize. According to Gbologe, this is a deeply personal series exploring the quiet heartbreak of childhood during parental separation. In each piece, the recurring image of a father, a mother, and a daughter sits alone on the same low street fence, symbolizing both connection and distance.

These artworks reflect moments that were once filled with laughter, simplicity, and play—now suspended in silence and space. Each painting isolates a single figure (the father, the mother, or the daughter), capturing the emotional distance that grew where warmth once existed. The fence, which recurs across the works, becomes both a memory and a metaphor: once a perch for family closeness, now a quiet boundary between what was whole and what has become fragmented.

By revisiting these moments, Once, We Were Three speaks to the invisible scars left on children when love unravels. It honors the loneliness of a young heart caught in the echo of what used to be, while gently reminding us that even in separation, the memory of unity endures.

Gbologe masterfully depicts a reality familiar to many children, and even to those who didn’t experience it directly. The sense of concern for those children is immediate and deeply felt.

Visually, the series uses a consistent colour palette. Shades of orange, yellow, and reddish tones dominate, giving the images a retro feel—as though one is looking into the past. This nostalgic palette intensifies the emotional impact, encouraging the viewer to reflect on these suspended moments.

Once again, Olawale Gbologe proves his brilliance with this piece: not only technically, but emotionally. His digital brush captures subtle human experience, rendering a universal truth in deeply personal scenes.