A Biochemist Turned Designer: Mercy Imiegha’s Unlikely Path to Creativity

Fadekemi Ajakaiye

Looking back, Mercy Imiegha can trace her path to design through early memories, her father repainting rooms while she was away at school, her love for geometry and technical drawing, and a fascination with making things by hand. Yet, Nigeria’s education system rarely nurtures passion; it rewards proficiency. “I was good at science, so I was boxed into it,” she recalls.
She initially pursued medicine, but soon realised she couldn’t give it the singular devotion it demanded. “I didn’t want to spend all my time studying medicine and doing nothing else,” she says. Biochemistry offered a middle ground — a way to stay close to science while leaving room to explore other interests.

An internship in her third year exposed her to the oil and gas sector, and the reality of gender bias in the field. “Women were relegated to desk jobs while men did fieldwork,” she recalls. “I knew I’d get really bored sitting in an office, working on memos. I have to be physically active.” That realization made her reconsider her path.

When she began her NYSC in 2016, Mercy started experimenting with creative projects. She stumbled upon a lecture by an interior designer that changed everything. “The designer described how interior spaces affect human behaviour — how people feel and move through design,” she recalled.

She immediately enrolled in design training, spending six months studying theory before taking an internship at Isio DeLavega Design Studios, one of her dream firms at the time. “I got to learn the practical aspects of interior design, which was so much more difficult than the theory,” she says. “You get to work with artisans, manage clients and different personalities.”
She soon became a junior designer at Isio DeLavega, where she worked on major projects, including Universal Music Group’s Lagos office — a creative environment that gave her permission to express herself freely — and a laboratory for the German company, Symrise. “Those projects became my master class in quality control,” she recalls.

After a year and a half at Isio Delavega, Mercy decided to take a break. Three experienced designers she knew from the industry immediately proposed starting businesses with her. They saw something in her that she wasn’t seeing at the time. This prompted her to start her own practice instead, proposing collaboration rather than partnership. “If they have a project, we split it. They give me parts to execute while they execute others.”

Around that time, she also began thinking about creating a product line inspired by European furniture brands that designed and sold directly to consumers. The idea stayed on hold — until COVID-19 hit.

With all her projects cancelled, she finally had time to build what would become Mimọ, her minimalist furniture brand. “I knew exactly what I wanted — clean, simple lines, no compromise on materials,” she says. At first, she feared Nigerians wouldn’t appreciate the restraint. But then her sister posted a Mimọ dining set on Twitter. It went viral. “We got thousands of retweets and new followers overnight. Then the orders flooded in.”

Later that year, she got a call from BoConcept, the Danish design brand she’d long admired, looking for a design consultant. Though she’d just started her business and wasn’t looking for a job, she saw it as a chance to learn from one of the world’s best design systems. “I wasn’t sure if I’d stay,” she admits. “I was testing if the environment would nourish or deplete me.”

It turned out to be an education she couldn’t have bought. “I learnt about Danish design principles — simple yet warm, precise yet human.” Within a few years, she rose from consultant to manager and then to country manager, focusing on client relationships and partnerships. Interestingly, she had declined the first offer for a managerial role. “Leadership wasn’t something I thought I wanted,” she says, laughing. “But it kept finding me.”

In early 2023, her focus began to evolve again. BoConcept had been sourcing African art for its showrooms through a consultant, and when that relationship ended, Mercy started curating the art herself. She’d always been passionate about art — commissioning murals for clients and collaborating with local artists. Soon, she began hosting exhibitions in the store.

One of the first was with artist Mimika, followed by Anny Roberts. Both were successful, and Mercy’s boss suggested formalising it. In June 2023, they launched Nomadic Art Gallery, a venture that merged her design expertise with a new calling: art curation. Her design experience helped her curate for emotional impact, while her storytelling background added depth to exhibitions.
She quickly learned that the art world played by different rules. “Information is gold, and gatekeeping is the name of the game,” she says. But she brought her designer’s instincts — understanding how space evokes emotion — and her storyteller’s sensibility from writing. What she lacked in business knowledge, she made up for with empathy and curiosity.

Art, she has discovered, can’t be sold on logic. “People have to connect with it, experience it, and love it before they decide to buy.” Her approach has become narrative-driven exhibitions that invite reflection and dialogue.

The gallery’s first exhibition, “Femme Voices, Shapes & Forms?”, in June 2023, celebrated the boldness, softness & intricacies of the female voice, shape & form through art. “It presented women artists at the forefront of challenging traditional gender roles and creating works that interrogate gender norms, explore the female body, and challenge the male gaze”, she says.

Another exhibition in July 2023, “Transtemporal Temple”, explored the relationship between human behaviour and time. But her most fulfilling project remains “Art Meets Design”, a recurring series that fuses her dual passions. “I’m a big believer that art and design transcend the boundaries of each other,” she says. “I myself am testimony that art and design can transcend those boundaries.”

Today, three years after joining BoConcept and launching Mimọ, Mercy describes herself as a “design artist.” For her, art’s true function is communication — design tells stories through form; art tells them through feeling. She plans to keep curating exhibitions that ask questions about society, politics, and the environment while crafting furniture that does the same. The goal is to go global with both ventures. “It’s only the beginning,” she says.