Your Name Is My Favorite Combination of Letters
Interviews and Writing
Asia Clarke: An Homage to Memory, Ancestral Resistance, and the Futures We Inhabit
Bella Danso May 18th, 2026
“Freewill: Manifestors of Realities is my route to liberation, and my contribution towards collectively imagining homage to our ancestors and a reminder of what they stood for so we can draw strength for the path forward.”
Asia Clarke is a Canadian Born Afro-Caribbean multidisciplinary artist of Trinidadian heritage based between Toronto, Canada and Accra, Ghana. Clarke’s work explores the themes of remembrance and reconciliation within the Afro-Caribbean diaspora through the combined usage of hair artistry and jewelry as a form of sculpture. Over the past 15 years, Clarke has built her craft as a multidisciplinary artist through her versatile creative skillset of costume design, jewelry, and expertise in editorial hairstyling that have informed the sculptural configurations seen throughout her pieces. Through her impressive array of interdisciplinary skillsets, Clarke is able to build an image encompassing the themes of past and future narratives while paying homage to the importance of memory and resistance within an Afro-Caribbean context. Clarke’s latest work pays tribute to a multitude of Afro-Caribbean resistance and liberation fighters in the form of her sculptural installation: “FREE WILL: Manifestors of Realities” which consists of five hand carved wooden masks ornate with Afrocentric hair designed by Clarke herself. The artist’s body of work functions to bridge together ancestral narratives with contemporary diasporic identity as the masks act as a “vessel” for remembrance, resistance, and liberation. Clarke’s emphasis on unity, solidarity, and forward facing futures as portrayed in “FREE WILL: Manifestors of Realities” earned her a feature in her first ever art fair exhibition: “What The Ancestors Whispered” at FUZE Art Fair in Nassau, Bahamas in partnership with DepART Consultancy.
Clarke’s careful persistence and dedication toward her interdisciplinary craft has awarded her with a multitude of grants and recognitions. Including the 2022 Toronto Art Council Black Art Grant, and most recently, a 2025-2026 nomination by the London Music Video Awards and the Hollywood Music Video Awards for her project “Strands and Structures” showcasing hair sculpture inspired by urban architectural landscapes.
More information regarding Clarke’s grants, features, and creative projects can be found on her website: https://asiaclarke.format.com/
I had the pleasure of sitting down with Clarke several months after her feature in the exhibition “What The Ancestors Whispered” at the FUZE Art Fair in Nassau, Bahamas from October 22nd - 26th 2025 showcasing the artworks and narratives of contemporary Caribbean artists from across the region. Below is a written transcription of our interview together:
Danso: “This year's FUZE theme, “All A We,” emphasizes Caribbean Unity and shared heritage. How has participating in FUZE shaped your experience as an artist?”
Clarke: “Participating in Fuze was my first time as an artist, exhibiting at an art fair. And it was honestly such a wonderful experience. I got the chance to work with a whole bunch of other artists and generate leads in my work, and make connections. And also add "exhibiting artist” on my artist resume.
Every experience that I have is just building on the last [experience] as a way to elevate myself professionally and as an artist. And also thankfully the staff organizing FUZE was very accommodating for me because I’m a working artist mom so I had to bring my one year old on the journey and it was just great to see her also having a great time. It’s amazing that as a mom as a young one, I can still participate in arts events like this so it's really amazing how inclusive and accommodating they [FUZE] were for my circumstance. FUZE also generated a lot of interest in the body of work “Freewill: Manifestors of Realities" and I’m really grateful for that. It’s a great launchpad for the continuation of the series which I hope to exhibit in 2026 and beyond.”
Danso: “How do you hope your work amplifies Caribbean voices and histories in ways that formal campaigns may not?
Clarke: “I think art is such an important tool to convey ideas. I would say the idea behind “Freewill: Manifestors of Realities,” is to draw attention to the small and big ways we all collectively shape the future we would want to inhabit. Following the lives and the work of Caribbean leaders throughout the Caribbean, I try to draw a thread between different factions of the anti colonialism and the freedom movements and the small and big ways people resist it and the legacies left behind. I hope that people, especially throughout the continental African diaspora, and throughout the Caribbean, become more aware of the actions of our ancestors and the sacrificial and courageous actions of our ancestors and draw upon those stories as courage for ourselves to face the challenges and rise to the occasion of resistance in the world that we live in today. Knowing that we are holding a torch that has been lit generations before. I think something to mention about formal campaigns is that “Freewill: Manifestors of Realities” is mostly self funded. As an artist, I’ve been able to get grants in the past, but I'm not sure whether a corporation or any other big conglomerate would get behind the message of a lot of the Afro Caribbean leaders that I’m highlighting. Like for example, Maurice Bishop features heavily in this part of the series and he was a proper socialist whose famously anti-American establishment. So I want to honor the resistance and the spirit of the work all these Afro Caribbean freedom fighters did.”
Danso: “In your view, can art itself function as a form of reparative practice, contributing to cultural, social, or emotional restitution?"
Clarke: “I don’t think that art can ever stand in place for reparations. Reparations is a financial exchange from those in power to those who have been disenfranchised generationally. No amount of artistic expression can stand in exchange for the fact that, we [Caribbean Diaspora], our ancestors worked generations for free building up global economies and were not compensated fairly, and even at all. And were also abused in every sense of the word. So, there’s no art that can stand in place for the financial reparations that should take place. But, art can be an important catalyst for drawing attention and galvanizing support for the ideas that bring people together towards movements of reparations, anticolonialist organizing, and freedom movements in the Caribbean and abroad. And it's not even like freedom from racism or from classism, at this point we’re talking about freedom from oligarchy, freedom from military industrial complexes and capitalist oppression of the masses. And so, all the Caribbean freedom fighters that I highlight, their work was not solely about the freedom of enslaved Africans, it was about education, it was about freedom from abuse, it was about collective actions, it was about pride. It was about collaboration and those are still values that are needed to address the big challenges of today.”
Danso: “Your Masks are described as “portals” bridging past and future. How do you envision speculative futures through this work?”
Clarke: “I would categorize this work as speculative in the sense that some of the Afro-Caribbean freedom fighters that I have immortalized in these pieces, there are no image records as to what they may have looked like. So, I’m imagining what Queen Nanny of the Moons would have looked like, and I’m imagining what Cecile Fatima of Haiti would have looked like. In that sense, it's a very spiritual practice, the crafting of these masks. And the ones for which we do have images of, I’ve drawn upon their likeness to create these sculptures in woodland in hair sculptures. I think it's important to see our ancestors in this way. I think all over the world, you will see statues and busts of famous and appreciated leaders from different societies and even in Afro Caribbean societies. But, a lot of the time they [statues of Caribbean historical figures] were created by white artists and immortalised through descriptions and imagery taken from colonial masters. For example, let's take Cecile Fatima, a lot of the records of her exist in the journals of colonial masters. So, it’s important to me, as a woman of the Afro-Caribbean diaspora, to actively reimagine my ancestors and be a steward of their message through my art going forward. Not informed by a colonial master's imagination. Actually, I’m using speculative art to command a new imagination about our ancestors and that makes me feel pretty powerful in my own practice and my work”
Danso: “How does Afrofuturist thought influence your practice, particularly in imagining liberated diaspora futures?”
Clarke: “I like to look at my work as Afro-Inifinities, not necessarily as Afro-futurism all the time. Because, in true African traditional cultures, time was seen as cyclical. Time was seen as you [the observer] creating time. Time was seen as the return of the seasons, and the season always returned. Just like how our ancestors always returned through us. So, I want to think about my work through the lens of Afro-Infinities and the ways in which our ways change, there's never going to be a perfect world we’re all going to live in. Even if we achieve reparations, even if we achieve racial equity, our world is such that there’s always a complex interaction of different forces that create problems for us as human beings and communities to collectively solve together and there’s no perfect existence for us. So I always like to view my work through a critical lens. If one problem is solved, what is the problematic outcome of that solution? There’s always going to be a tug between the utopia that we desire and the implications of what we desire. Especially when we’re talking about liberated diaspora futures, there is no utopia. So, what might the challenges be and how do we communicate it and how do we move through it?”
Danso: “In what ways do the masks invite audiences to participate in these future-facing narratives?
Clarke: “I want these masks to help people know about who our ancestors are and draw upon that strength in their own lived experiences moving forward. The paths to resistance are many, there’s many different ways to resistance. For example, I’m an artist and a hairstylist and a mom living between Ghana and Canada. And this is my freewill, manifestors of realities is my route to liberation, and my contribution towards collectively imagining homage to our ancestors and a reminder of what they stood for so we can draw strength for the path forward. So I hope that audiences gain that from this [From What the Ancestor Whispered Exhibition], and the masks themselves are really striking. People can feel the energy and feel the message before they come close and read the tag to see who the person was and do their own research. Just in the way the mask is depicted people can feel what it is I'm trying to convey and I’m really grateful about that.”
Danso: “Hair aesthetics and hand-carved wood are central to your masks. How do these materials function as metaphors for resilience, memory and interventional power?”
Clarke: “I love using black hair as a medium because it is so specific to black people. We are the only people on earth who have this texture and it is a direct signal of our shared ancestry throughout the African diaspora. Whereas, I'm not sure any other group of people on earth have a hair type this distinctive. That’s why I like to use it as a medium, for us to tell shared stories. And, it’s not enough for us [African Diaspora] to say ‘we’re all black, so we all have this hair so therefore, we are all related,’ there’s a lot of difference and a lot of diversity within black culture. But antiblack racism is global, and I really feel like our hair is the thing that identifies us and also brings us together. The wood that was used for the masks in the exhibition is called Osese Wood and it is a common wood used for mask carving throughout West Africa. It’s favored because it’s a very pliable and soft wood so that as soon as you start to carve it, it's almost as if you're coaxing your own message from the wood. It’s almost as if when I’m working with the artisans that I’m working with, and we’re working on the carvings of the masks together with my sketches and my prototypes it’s a very interactive and shared creative experience. I love it, and I think combining the hair and the masks together draws upon generations of African and Afro-diaspora mask making. The extra adornment of the hair on top of the mask is not a new practice at all but it is one that I am adapting for the message of sharing the lived experiences and work of Afro-Caribbean freedom fighters. I think that’s the way that I am innovating this particular art form to highlight our ancestors. And like I said in the previous question, the masks are very powerful, people can feel the energy of it before they even get close to read about who they were. I’m glad that’s how it's been received.”
Danso: “Do the masks operate as tools for reflection, action, or both?”
Clarke: “I would say both, and that maybe the action that is taken is research. I am an educator in addition to all things that I have described that I am before, and I just want people to be educated. I want people to be inspired and use that knowledge to bring up courage in themselves to fight systems of oppression in their everyday life and through their small art forms and in their ways to resist.”
Danso: “How do you see Freewill: Manifestors of Realities evolving in the future?”
Clarke: “I have plenty more masks as a part of the series that I hope to put out in 2026 and beyond. I hope that we will do some more exhibitions, especially with depART consultancy. We have a great working relationship so I’m glad for us to continue moving forward with our ideas and I’d love to create a more visual work around the masks and I would love to do maybe a book, I would love to do maybe a museum, like a large museum. I would love to show the space as a part of a permanency collection and I would love to use “Freewill: Manifestors of Realities” for education, like teach a course on each of the Caribbean freedom fighters and how their work intersects and connects in past present and future. There's just so many opportunities for expansion on the project, I’m open to anything.”
Bella Danso May 18th, 2026
“Freewill: Manifestors of Realities is my route to liberation, and my contribution towards collectively imagining homage to our ancestors and a reminder of what they stood for so we can draw strength for the path forward.”
Asia Clarke is a Canadian Born Afro-Caribbean multidisciplinary artist of Trinidadian heritage based between Toronto, Canada and Accra, Ghana. Clarke’s work explores the themes of remembrance and reconciliation within the Afro-Caribbean diaspora through the combined usage of hair artistry and jewelry as a form of sculpture. Over the past 15 years, Clarke has built her craft as a multidisciplinary artist through her versatile creative skillset of costume design, jewelry, and expertise in editorial hairstyling that have informed the sculptural configurations seen throughout her pieces. Through her impressive array of interdisciplinary skillsets, Clarke is able to build an image encompassing the themes of past and future narratives while paying homage to the importance of memory and resistance within an Afro-Caribbean context. Clarke’s latest work pays tribute to a multitude of Afro-Caribbean resistance and liberation fighters in the form of her sculptural installation: “FREE WILL: Manifestors of Realities” which consists of five hand carved wooden masks ornate with Afrocentric hair designed by Clarke herself. The artist’s body of work functions to bridge together ancestral narratives with contemporary diasporic identity as the masks act as a “vessel” for remembrance, resistance, and liberation. Clarke’s emphasis on unity, solidarity, and forward facing futures as portrayed in “FREE WILL: Manifestors of Realities” earned her a feature in her first ever art fair exhibition: “What The Ancestors Whispered” at FUZE Art Fair in Nassau, Bahamas in partnership with DepART Consultancy.
Clarke’s careful persistence and dedication toward her interdisciplinary craft has awarded her with a multitude of grants and recognitions. Including the 2022 Toronto Art Council Black Art Grant, and most recently, a 2025-2026 nomination by the London Music Video Awards and the Hollywood Music Video Awards for her project “Strands and Structures” showcasing hair sculpture inspired by urban architectural landscapes.
More information regarding Clarke’s grants, features, and creative projects can be found on her website: https://asiaclarke.format.com/
I had the pleasure of sitting down with Clarke several months after her feature in the exhibition “What The Ancestors Whispered” at the FUZE Art Fair in Nassau, Bahamas from October 22nd - 26th 2025 showcasing the artworks and narratives of contemporary Caribbean artists from across the region. Below is a written transcription of our interview together:
Danso: “This year's FUZE theme, “All A We,” emphasizes Caribbean Unity and shared heritage. How has participating in FUZE shaped your experience as an artist?”
Clarke: “Participating in Fuze was my first time as an artist, exhibiting at an art fair. And it was honestly such a wonderful experience. I got the chance to work with a whole bunch of other artists and generate leads in my work, and make connections. And also add "exhibiting artist” on my artist resume.
Every experience that I have is just building on the last [experience] as a way to elevate myself professionally and as an artist. And also thankfully the staff organizing FUZE was very accommodating for me because I’m a working artist mom so I had to bring my one year old on the journey and it was just great to see her also having a great time. It’s amazing that as a mom as a young one, I can still participate in arts events like this so it's really amazing how inclusive and accommodating they [FUZE] were for my circumstance. FUZE also generated a lot of interest in the body of work “Freewill: Manifestors of Realities" and I’m really grateful for that. It’s a great launchpad for the continuation of the series which I hope to exhibit in 2026 and beyond.”
Danso: “How do you hope your work amplifies Caribbean voices and histories in ways that formal campaigns may not?
Clarke: “I think art is such an important tool to convey ideas. I would say the idea behind “Freewill: Manifestors of Realities,” is to draw attention to the small and big ways we all collectively shape the future we would want to inhabit. Following the lives and the work of Caribbean leaders throughout the Caribbean, I try to draw a thread between different factions of the anti colonialism and the freedom movements and the small and big ways people resist it and the legacies left behind. I hope that people, especially throughout the continental African diaspora, and throughout the Caribbean, become more aware of the actions of our ancestors and the sacrificial and courageous actions of our ancestors and draw upon those stories as courage for ourselves to face the challenges and rise to the occasion of resistance in the world that we live in today. Knowing that we are holding a torch that has been lit generations before. I think something to mention about formal campaigns is that “Freewill: Manifestors of Realities” is mostly self funded. As an artist, I’ve been able to get grants in the past, but I'm not sure whether a corporation or any other big conglomerate would get behind the message of a lot of the Afro Caribbean leaders that I’m highlighting. Like for example, Maurice Bishop features heavily in this part of the series and he was a proper socialist whose famously anti-American establishment. So I want to honor the resistance and the spirit of the work all these Afro Caribbean freedom fighters did.”
Danso: “In your view, can art itself function as a form of reparative practice, contributing to cultural, social, or emotional restitution?"
Clarke: “I don’t think that art can ever stand in place for reparations. Reparations is a financial exchange from those in power to those who have been disenfranchised generationally. No amount of artistic expression can stand in exchange for the fact that, we [Caribbean Diaspora], our ancestors worked generations for free building up global economies and were not compensated fairly, and even at all. And were also abused in every sense of the word. So, there’s no art that can stand in place for the financial reparations that should take place. But, art can be an important catalyst for drawing attention and galvanizing support for the ideas that bring people together towards movements of reparations, anticolonialist organizing, and freedom movements in the Caribbean and abroad. And it's not even like freedom from racism or from classism, at this point we’re talking about freedom from oligarchy, freedom from military industrial complexes and capitalist oppression of the masses. And so, all the Caribbean freedom fighters that I highlight, their work was not solely about the freedom of enslaved Africans, it was about education, it was about freedom from abuse, it was about collective actions, it was about pride. It was about collaboration and those are still values that are needed to address the big challenges of today.”
Danso: “Your Masks are described as “portals” bridging past and future. How do you envision speculative futures through this work?”
Clarke: “I would categorize this work as speculative in the sense that some of the Afro-Caribbean freedom fighters that I have immortalized in these pieces, there are no image records as to what they may have looked like. So, I’m imagining what Queen Nanny of the Moons would have looked like, and I’m imagining what Cecile Fatima of Haiti would have looked like. In that sense, it's a very spiritual practice, the crafting of these masks. And the ones for which we do have images of, I’ve drawn upon their likeness to create these sculptures in woodland in hair sculptures. I think it's important to see our ancestors in this way. I think all over the world, you will see statues and busts of famous and appreciated leaders from different societies and even in Afro Caribbean societies. But, a lot of the time they [statues of Caribbean historical figures] were created by white artists and immortalised through descriptions and imagery taken from colonial masters. For example, let's take Cecile Fatima, a lot of the records of her exist in the journals of colonial masters. So, it’s important to me, as a woman of the Afro-Caribbean diaspora, to actively reimagine my ancestors and be a steward of their message through my art going forward. Not informed by a colonial master's imagination. Actually, I’m using speculative art to command a new imagination about our ancestors and that makes me feel pretty powerful in my own practice and my work”
Danso: “How does Afrofuturist thought influence your practice, particularly in imagining liberated diaspora futures?”
Clarke: “I like to look at my work as Afro-Inifinities, not necessarily as Afro-futurism all the time. Because, in true African traditional cultures, time was seen as cyclical. Time was seen as you [the observer] creating time. Time was seen as the return of the seasons, and the season always returned. Just like how our ancestors always returned through us. So, I want to think about my work through the lens of Afro-Infinities and the ways in which our ways change, there's never going to be a perfect world we’re all going to live in. Even if we achieve reparations, even if we achieve racial equity, our world is such that there’s always a complex interaction of different forces that create problems for us as human beings and communities to collectively solve together and there’s no perfect existence for us. So I always like to view my work through a critical lens. If one problem is solved, what is the problematic outcome of that solution? There’s always going to be a tug between the utopia that we desire and the implications of what we desire. Especially when we’re talking about liberated diaspora futures, there is no utopia. So, what might the challenges be and how do we communicate it and how do we move through it?”
Danso: “In what ways do the masks invite audiences to participate in these future-facing narratives?
Clarke: “I want these masks to help people know about who our ancestors are and draw upon that strength in their own lived experiences moving forward. The paths to resistance are many, there’s many different ways to resistance. For example, I’m an artist and a hairstylist and a mom living between Ghana and Canada. And this is my freewill, manifestors of realities is my route to liberation, and my contribution towards collectively imagining homage to our ancestors and a reminder of what they stood for so we can draw strength for the path forward. So I hope that audiences gain that from this [From What the Ancestor Whispered Exhibition], and the masks themselves are really striking. People can feel the energy and feel the message before they come close and read the tag to see who the person was and do their own research. Just in the way the mask is depicted people can feel what it is I'm trying to convey and I’m really grateful about that.”
Danso: “Hair aesthetics and hand-carved wood are central to your masks. How do these materials function as metaphors for resilience, memory and interventional power?”
Clarke: “I love using black hair as a medium because it is so specific to black people. We are the only people on earth who have this texture and it is a direct signal of our shared ancestry throughout the African diaspora. Whereas, I'm not sure any other group of people on earth have a hair type this distinctive. That’s why I like to use it as a medium, for us to tell shared stories. And, it’s not enough for us [African Diaspora] to say ‘we’re all black, so we all have this hair so therefore, we are all related,’ there’s a lot of difference and a lot of diversity within black culture. But antiblack racism is global, and I really feel like our hair is the thing that identifies us and also brings us together. The wood that was used for the masks in the exhibition is called Osese Wood and it is a common wood used for mask carving throughout West Africa. It’s favored because it’s a very pliable and soft wood so that as soon as you start to carve it, it's almost as if you're coaxing your own message from the wood. It’s almost as if when I’m working with the artisans that I’m working with, and we’re working on the carvings of the masks together with my sketches and my prototypes it’s a very interactive and shared creative experience. I love it, and I think combining the hair and the masks together draws upon generations of African and Afro-diaspora mask making. The extra adornment of the hair on top of the mask is not a new practice at all but it is one that I am adapting for the message of sharing the lived experiences and work of Afro-Caribbean freedom fighters. I think that’s the way that I am innovating this particular art form to highlight our ancestors. And like I said in the previous question, the masks are very powerful, people can feel the energy of it before they even get close to read about who they were. I’m glad that’s how it's been received.”
Danso: “Do the masks operate as tools for reflection, action, or both?”
Clarke: “I would say both, and that maybe the action that is taken is research. I am an educator in addition to all things that I have described that I am before, and I just want people to be educated. I want people to be inspired and use that knowledge to bring up courage in themselves to fight systems of oppression in their everyday life and through their small art forms and in their ways to resist.”
Danso: “How do you see Freewill: Manifestors of Realities evolving in the future?”
Clarke: “I have plenty more masks as a part of the series that I hope to put out in 2026 and beyond. I hope that we will do some more exhibitions, especially with depART consultancy. We have a great working relationship so I’m glad for us to continue moving forward with our ideas and I’d love to create a more visual work around the masks and I would love to do maybe a book, I would love to do maybe a museum, like a large museum. I would love to show the space as a part of a permanency collection and I would love to use “Freewill: Manifestors of Realities” for education, like teach a course on each of the Caribbean freedom fighters and how their work intersects and connects in past present and future. There's just so many opportunities for expansion on the project, I’m open to anything.”
No Collections Here
Sort your projects into collections. Click on "Manage Collections" to get started
Caribbean freedom fighters and how their work intersects and connects in past present and future. There's just so many opportunities for expansion on the project, I’m open to anything.”
Joshua Donkor - Legacy, Narrative, and the notion of Duality
Photo Credit: Joshua Donkor Personal Website
Bella Danso, February 27th, 2025
“We are a byproduct of those who come before us and we exist because of them. They inform our perspectives of the world” -Joshua Donkor
Born and raised in Bath, England, Joshua Donkor is a British-Ghanaian portrait artist whose work captures both identity and duality as facets of cultural and familial legacy. Through the exploration of multimedia and oil paint, Donkor’s work surveys a rich time capsule of memory as the painter delves into the generational narratives of his mixed race Ghanaian-British heritage. Through this, he is able to amplify the voices of the members who embody those narratives.
Inspired by traditional British portraiture and his cultural connection to Ghana, Donkor’s use of mixed media and found objects create a dynamic and immersive atmosphere that transcends the narrative and content of his artwork outside the physical boundaries of his paintings. Donkor achieves the transient element of his work by introducing his audience to subtle, but strategically placed details such as the presence of family photographs, personal belongings, and handwritten letters embedded into the foreground of much of his work. The almost ghostly and symbolic nature of these details amongst the stunning visuals of Ghana and the figures he depicts create a passing imprint of memory and homage to generational legacy and personal voice.
Donkor’s incorporation of these familial accounts and blend of British and Ghanaian artistic and cultural narratives serve as pivotal anecdotes towards the themes of identity, legacy, and connection to the land that continue to inform the dual nature of Donkor’s personal identity.
Donkor’s persistent and careful excellence in his craft has awarded him with multiple honors and collection features such as the Tate Collection commission (2022), Young Masters Highly Commended Prize (2023), and commissioned artwork with the National Library of Wales (2024) to name a few. A full list of Donkor’s achievements and artworks are available on his website: https://www.joshuadonkorart.co.uk
In early January, I was lucky to sit down with Donkor and interview him about his work, his aspirations, and his newest exhibition “I Have More Souls Than One.” Which pays tribute to the painter’s cultural and familial heritage and the duality that exists within us all. Donkor’s show is currently exhibiting in The Holburne Museum in Bath, England from January 18th-May 5th 2025. Below is a text transcription from our interview together:
1. Multimedia plays a pivotal role in your work. How long does it take to gather your materials (ie photographs, letters, anything personal) before starting your pieces?
Donkor: “A lot of the process is very dependent on who I’m working with. So if I'm doing a portrait of a family member that process can be a lot faster because normally I have most of the material and then I’ll probably speak to them about which images to use but everything is kind of there within my grasp. But then if I am collaborating with someone that I don’t know, then that process is a lot longer because I first need to get to know the person and then from those initial conversations, we will then start to think about imagery and artifacts and what we might use to try and incorporate into the work. So that process can be a lot longer. As I am finding now, especially with commissions, the busier people are the longer you are waiting so that process can either be a matter of days or months depending on who you are working with.”
2. Does the choice of multimedia (i.e. photographs, letters etc) influence the painting or does the painting influence the type of media you choose from?
Donkor: “I was thinking about that myself. I think it's both really. Because sometimes you will have a rough concept of an idea in your head, so you will be looking for images that are going to work with that concept. But sometimes, that isn’t a good way of working because sometimes you need them [the sitter of the portrait] to go first and see what images they provide. So it tends to be a good middle ground that you find. It was interesting because this is Gaino Lagow [motions to in progress portrait of Gaino Lagow] who I’m creating a portrait of for the National Library of Wales. And initially I had a rough concept in my head, but when I met her that concept became a lot stronger because it turned out everything she was saying really fell into it. So I had this idea because I had been doing some research about her, and I knew she had lived in Cardiff her entire life and had been archiving the history of the entire area. So I thought it would be interesting to have her embedded in that history and to have her be the observer in some way. And then when I met her, she took me straight to the cultural heritage site in Tiger Bay, and everything she was saying was about how she had always lived there. She knew every generation that had passed through, so that worked with the rough concept that I had in my head and the images she provided fed into that. So both sides kind of met if that makes sense. So yes, I think it can change, but hopefully a bit of both.”
3. You once mentioned “every story is a story about duality.” What does duality mean in the context of your work and how has it been influenced by personal experience?
Donkor: “I remember saying that in the context of these exhibition paintings [Paintings for I Have More Souls Than One]. All of the work that I have done up until this moment has always been about diaspora, displacement, and being between two cultures. So, within that context I think there always is a duality. And certainly that's the case within all if not all, then definitely the majority of these paintings. That’s something that has always really fascinated me, and I think I have always really felt that. Especially being mixed race, it makes a huge difference because you are literally a byproduct of two different races but also two vastly different cultural backgrounds in my case. So yeah, that is a really strange thing to navigate especially when you’re younger, because you spend time with one side of the family and then you might be a certain way with them or feel like you need to be a certain way with them and then feel the same way with the other side. I think that’s always an interesting thing that I kind of grew up with, and it was interesting to find that lots of people experienced that. And as I grew older and had more conversations, I found that my dad was experiencing that. And I found that as a bit of a shock- I don’t know, I think you probably underestimate how complicated your parents are when you are younger- they’re your parents, you can’t really see beyond that. But having conversations with him when I was older, and especially seeing him in Ghana, that duality was so present in his life. And even that feeling of being an outsider, even when he was in Ghana, it turned out that a lot of frustration came from the fact that he was seen as an outsider there. And again, that sense of being an outsider also plays into that idea of duality. It’s like even within your own environment you’re seen as something else as opposed to in your head, being a part of that country and being a part of that community. So, that’s always been something that fascinates me and has always been a part of the work as well.”
4. In your work you mention the importance of home and connection to the land. How do the influences of Bath and Ghana as “home” present themselves in your work?
Donkor: “That's interesting to think about. I don’t have much of Bath present within the actual work, but then it actually is present within all of it because half the photos and images within my work are in Bath. So I was thinking about the pieces and thought ‘I guess that is quite present in the work.’ And I think the environment in Ghana is particularly present in my work. Especially these sort of later pieces, and the family land pieces. And that was an interesting way of tapping into that idea of the environment and how it changes over time. One of the important parts of the environment when I use it in my work is that they are these fluid spaces, so they are meant to create this impression of a place, but they are also not solid and it could exist within any time period. One thing I would like to paint more of is probably interiors and show how interiors change. I think it would be interesting looking more at my home in Bath and looking within that. But that’s something I hope to experiment with this year. But I think it’s been interesting because there's a big challenge about how much you show and how accurate you are. Because I don’t want to create this fully formed impression of a specific place. Like it needs to be quite loose because it’s kind of like a background influence as opposed to the essential part of the work if that makes sense. It’s been something fairly new but something quite exciting that I’m hoping to play around with and keep pushing. And I guess new environments will become more and more important and the other interesting thing I suppose with the new work that I am creating I’m trying to take people back to the areas and places that have been important to them in their lives. So I'm kind of reimagining these new environments that specifically come from them and their memories. So I guess all of these spaces are imagined spaces, they're not real, or they’re what we remember or what we project into them.”
5. What is the relationship between the figures and the backgrounds in your work and how does it impact the narrative of your pieces?
Donkor: “So I guess there’s a really strong connection to the figures, and within all the work, the figures are the most present part of all the paintings. They’re the only things that are kind of solid and fully formed. And even the way they end up being painted in three or four layers, so they’re very detailed. Whereas the backgrounds in comparison are these really sort of fluctuating fluid spaces. I think that also speaks to the fact that I am present with the person, so that impression of them is fully formed. But I am not present in the landscape so it’s either something I’m remembering or they’re remembering. So that automatically means that it's this kind of loose space and I think visually that’s always a really interesting thing to play with. And then it also plays into the whole process that I work with, and the use of printing and old images and fragmented presentation of those images. So hopefully that all plays in together and works with each other and creates that impression that I think unifies all the work that I make hopefully.”
6. What is the significance of the title of your upcoming exhibition “I Have More Souls Than One’’ and what does it mean to you?
Donkor: “So it’s from a book of poetry by Frank Pesua, who’s a Portuguese poet. I think he was writing in the early 1900s? I’ll have to double check that. But I remember coming across it and I often look for books of poetry. I find them nice to read and I think poetry is so open. I think that it’s able to really express things that really complex writing can’t express. And I really enjoy that and I think it allows again, for me to really interpret that in my own way and take fragments from that [poetry] and the title of the book of poems was “I Have More Souls Than One.” And just that title alone, as soon as I saw that, I thought ’yeah I really feel that.’ I really feel like I- and we all are- a byproduct of everyone that’s gone before us even in terms of the fact that we exist in the spaces that we do. It’s a byproduct of all of the decisions every generation that came before us made. The fact that we know about the culture [Ghanaian culture] to the extent we know about it, is because of what’s been passed down whether its oral tradition, or records, or memoirs. We really are this byproduct of so many people and so many generations. So for me, that’s what that title means. “I Have More Souls Than One,” I am all of these people and all of the generations that have come before me and they make me who I am.”
7. How does the theme of legacy play a role in your work?
Donkor: “Yeah It’s funny because I remember someone saying to me, “these are really beautiful family heirlooms.” And it was something I had never ever thought about and it took me by surprise and I didn't really know how to feel about it at the time. But actually yeah, it was a really beautiful thing to say, because they are. These paintings are legacy. They incorporate so much history, they incorporate so much memory, so many relationships and family dynamics. So yeah, they’re all about legacy, they’re about celebrating all of the people in our lives, all of our loved ones, all of the complexities that exist in our lives. All of the struggles and searching- all of the wonderful memories and moments that are a little microcosm of our lives. So yeah, they are all about legacy, that's something that’s really lovely and beautiful and I hope in the future they will continue to be seen that way.”
8. What direction would you like to take your artwork in after this exhibition and moving forward?
Donkor: “After this exhibition I think I would like to continue with this new series that I am working on. And especially working with people outside of my family and telling new stories in different ways. I think seeing how all of this [I Have More Souls Than One Exhibition] works together makes me more excited for that. Because I think it's really rare as an artist that you get an opportunity to see all of your work occupy one space. And it makes such a big difference because obviously you’ll have one or two pieces in a gallery space, but certainly with the way I work, every piece plays off the next piece. So to be able to see that all together and see how they [the paintings] relate to one another and how they evolve going through the years is incredibly exciting. To be able to see that, learn from that, and then adapt it to the new work I make and the new stories I tell, is super exciting. And then beyond that I think we have to wait and see. Because I think I am conscious the stories I want to tell can be told in so many different ways. So I am curious to push that and see what other ways of working and what other nuances I can find in different methods and different materials even. So yeah, we will have to see what happens beyond that, but I think this new project I am working on will keep me busy for some time.”
Joshua’s exhibition “I Have More Souls Than One” is available for viewing at The Holburne Museum in Bath, England until May 5th 2025.
“From Soul to Humanity”
“A source of spiritual and psychological strength that one can draw upon to dispel fear” -Gye Nyame, Adinkra Ideographic Symbol
For centuries, the presence of Gye Nyame and the Adinkra symbols have been immersed in our daily lives both profoundly and discreetly. From a wooden carving on an Owari game board, to spray painted graffiti on the façade of a roadside wall, these symbols dance around us in our passing lives as a daily reminder of our unique culture and what it means to be Ghanaian. However, where do these unique symbols we value and sanctify originate from? Where and when did Gye Nyame become the iconic cultural symbol we recognise today? Although these inquiries are left primarily up to speculation and stories passed down by mouth, there is no denying the astute and deep rooted impact the Adinkra symbols have on Ghanaian culture and tradition.
Ghanaian artist Nana Danso’s Lafa Gallery based exhibition “From Soul to Humanity” further explores the notions and inquiries surrounding our cultural origins and the distinctive stories and narratives within. “From Soul to Humanity” features the retrospective works of Danso from 2018 to 2024 and boasts a unique blend of impressionism and pop art over the natural progression of the pieces. However, the most impactful feature of the show is the recurring presence of the human-like character, “Adensefor” (The Eye Witness) which serves as a representation of Akan and Ewe stories and beliefs through the portrayal of the animated figure. Additionally, the character “Adensefor” (The Eye Witness) conveys a layer of anonymity to reflect the unknown identities of the original storytellers of many Ewe and Akan stories. Similarly to symbols like Gye Nyame and other Adinkra symbols, The Eye Witness exists to serve the same eye-catching and recognisable iconography while capturing Ghanaian culture through the modern lens of contemporary art.
With unwavering pride, and mesmerizing composition, the solidity of Danso’s work further enraptures his audience with the boldness and light hearted essence Pop-Art boasts. In a tour with Ghana’s first lady, Rebecca Naa Okaikor Akufo-Addo, Danso speaks about capturing the “unseen” and the desire to create a character with the same immediate recognition and lively energy as seen in western comics and Pop-Art. Danso captures the animated style Pop-Art conveys as his work boasts a motion and energy similar to American artist, Keith Haring, whose iconic “Dancing Figures” were popularized in the 1980s and feature vibrant human silhouettes interactively dancing with one another. However, the cultural context and strong ancestral connection uniquely individuates “Adensefor” (The Eye Witness) from western style Pop-art and ultimately transcends the pieces and the functionality of the character into one representative of the Ghanaian narrative. On the contrary, Danso’s Pop-Art is additionally accompanied by the loose and expressive brush strokes of impressionism. Nana Danso masterfully captivates his audience with his profound combination of classical and contemporary art styles while contextualizing his work as representative of Ghanaian culture.
In the piece “Ntaa” (Twins) the audience bears witness to two “Adensefor” figures representing twins facing one another. However, as the viewer's eye moves through the composition, it soon becomes apparent that one of the twin figures is decapitated while the body of the figure remains seated on his twin. The focal point of the composition depicts the non-decapitated twin looking downward at the severed head of his twin. Who in turn, looks melancholically up at his sibling. Danso created “Ntaa” (Twin) as a reference to the Akan belief surrounding twins as both an omen and a curse. The face of the severed twin’s head staring upward at the twin with the non-severed head represents conflicting forces and emotions. Particularly the dual conflict that has led to the scene before the audience. However, the presence of the twins is also representative of the “twin nature” or “dual nature” that lives within all of us according to Danso. By portraying the belief and theme surrounding twinship in the Akan culture through the presence of “Adensefor” (The Eye Witness), Danso successfully pays homage to a renowned Akan anecdote through portrayal of “Adensefor” (The Eye Witness) to repurpose cultural narratives through the lens of contemporary art in West Africa.
Nana Danso’s “From Soul to Humanity” successfully encompasses the traditional stories within Akan and Ewe culture through his profound use of Pop-Art and Impressionism to create a fresh narrative within Ghanaian contemporary art. Like Gye-Nyame and many other symbols of importance in Ghanaian culture, “Adensefor” (The Eye Witness) offers a modern and unique view of Ghanaian iconography and symbolism to explore the beliefs within local culture. From the loose, airy brush strokes of impressionism to the boldness and vibrancy of Pop-Art, Danso repurposes classical and contemporary western art styles to create a new style unique to his body of work and Ghana itself.
the notions and inquiries surrounding our cultural origins and the distinctive stories and narratives within. “From Soul to Humanity” features the retrospective works of Danso from 2018 to 2024 and boasts a unique blend of impressionism and pop art over the natural progression of the pieces. However, the most impactful feature of the show is the recurring presence of the human-like character, “Adensefor” (The Eye Witness) which serves as a representation of Akan and Ewe stories and beliefs through the portrayal of the animated figure. Additionally, the character “Adensefor” (The Eye Witness) conveys a layer of anonymity to reflect the unknown identities of the original storytellers of many Ewe and Akan stories. Similarly to symbols like Gye Nyame and other Adinkra symbols, The Eye Witness exists to serve the same eye-catching and recognisable iconography while capturing Ghanaian culture through the modern lens of contemporary art.
With unwavering pride, and mesmerizing composition, the solidity of Danso’s work further enraptures his audience with the boldness and light hearted essence Pop-Art boasts. In a tour with Ghana’s first lady, Rebecca Naa Okaikor Akufo-Addo, Danso speaks about capturing the “unseen” and the desire to create a character with the same immediate recognition and lively energy as seen in western comics and Pop-Art. Danso captures the animated style Pop-Art conveys as his work boasts a motion and energy similar to American artist, Keith Haring, whose iconic “Dancing Figures” were popularized in the 1980s and feature vibrant human silhouettes interactively dancing with one another. However, the cultural context and strong ancestral connection uniquely individuates “Adensefor” (The Eye Witness) from western style Pop-art and ultimately transcends the pieces and the functionality of the character into one representative of the Ghanaian narrative. On the contrary, Danso’s Pop-Art is additionally accompanied by the loose and expressive brush strokes of impressionism. Nana Danso masterfully captivates his audience with his profound combination of classical and contemporary art styles while contextualizing his work as representative of Ghanaian culture.
In the piece “Ntaa” (Twins) the audience bears witness to two “Adensefor” figures representing twins facing one another. However, as the viewer's eye moves through the composition, it soon becomes apparent that one of the twin figures is decapitated while the body of the figure remains seated on his twin. The focal point of the composition depicts the non-decapitated twin looking downward at the severed head of his twin. Who in turn, looks melancholically up at his sibling. Danso created “Ntaa” (Twin) as a reference to the Akan belief surrounding twins as both an omen and a curse. The face of the severed twin’s head staring upward at the twin with the non-severed head represents conflicting forces and emotions. Particularly the dual conflict that has led to the scene before the audience. However, the presence of the twins is also representative of the “twin nature” or “dual nature” that lives within all of us according to Danso. By portraying the belief and theme surrounding twinship in the Akan culture through the presence of “Adensefor” (The Eye Witness), Danso successfully pays homage to a renowned Akan anecdote through portrayal of “Adensefor” (The Eye Witness) to repurpose cultural narratives through the lens of contemporary art in West Africa.
Nana Danso’s “From Soul to Humanity” successfully encompasses the traditional stories within Akan and Ewe culture through his profound use of Pop-Art and Impressionism to create a fresh narrative within Ghanaian contemporary art. Like Gye-Nyame and many other symbols of importance in Ghanaian culture, “Adensefor” (The Eye Witness) offers a modern and unique view of Ghanaian iconography and symbolism to explore the beliefs within local culture. From the loose, airy brush strokes of impressionism to the boldness and vibrancy of Pop-Art, Danso repurposes classical and contemporary western art styles to create a new style unique to his body of work and Ghana itself.