Who:  Kwesi Akaah

What: Artist, videographer, journalist

When: early 90’s - present

Where: Southfield, MI

Why:  Art is one of the greatest forms of expression. I started drawing at a young age. A heavy influence from my family and my surroundings. A lot of television, Street Fighter and comic books gave me the urge to to be as creative as possible.

How: Drawing, Painting, Collage, Photography, Sculpture, and Ceramics

 

ARTIST STATEMENT

​

I was drawn to art very early in life from the Superman comics my mother bought me to the Saturday cartoons and video games I consumed with my big brother. Art became a form of expression into my adult years. I use it as a tool to release feelings I may not be willing to express face to face. Whether I am sketching a portrait of a face or photographing a desolate landscape every piece of my work is an extension of my story.   

 

My work consists of a variety of mediums; painting, drawing, collage, and photography. I do my work on paper, canvas and wood panel. Each piece I create is abstract in nature but explores the human condition and draws on human emotion as well as commenting on current events and popular culture. Just like music or a novel my art tells a story. Although all of my art is personal, the viewer can take in each piece, easily interpret it and relate it to their own emotional experience.

 

Every piece I create is designed to capture and emphasize emotion. When composing a collage there is always a human face. I surround the face with colored images of shapes, patterns, symbols and animals. I position the collage in the center of the canvas leaving negative space around the borders. The concentration of medium in the middle of the frame comes off busy or cluttered when looking at the piece as whole. This cluttering of materials symbolizes the amount of thoughts rushing through a person’s mind at the height of emotion. The negative space symbolizes escaping the abundance of and finding clarity.

 

I take a similar approach to photography that I do towards painting and collaging. A majority of my photos are of people in candid moments. I rarely shoot a person in a posed photo. I shoot a band on stage, people in conversation, a random person in a crowd, a person on the street or even a person caught off guard from the flash of the camera. I also photograph abstracts, landscapes, and architecture. I compose the subject in the center leaving negative space towards the borders. I prefer shooting black and white film over color or digital especially when shooting at night. The black and white effect of a film photo can set a mood and express emotions that are not found in a digital or color photo.

 

Society plays a major influence in all of my work. I watch the news consistently and keep on top of current events. Coming from a close-knit family and having a diverse circle of friends inspires me to express different perspectives throughout my work. I was born and raised in a quiet, slow moving, metro Detroit suburb but have always been attracted to metropolitan scenery. Streets congested with cars, tall skyscrapers, people passing each other on the streets without making eye contact, even the constant noise. Going to school downtown and working in the city gives me opportunities to observe people and how they interact with each other and the environment. This translates visibly in my work. In some parts you get the peace and serenity of the suburbs in the gently well calculated brush strokes and cool tone color pallet and in another parts the bustle and chaos of the big city is translated through torn edged interspersed collage pieces against the drips and splatters of acrylic paint.