I am Kwaku also known as Absku. I am from Ghana, West Africa, and live in the United States. My work is about a search for a personal and social identity by assuming a Third Culture. By Third Culture I am referring to the transformation an individual goes through when uprooted from their first culture. One becomes accustomed to their new environment or Second culture, through the immersion and assimilation of cultures, a Third Culture is created. In this status, attributed characteristics of both cultures resurface at various times and circumstances. I am aware of the plurality of my cultural influences. This awareness increases my interest of expressing that duality in my art work. I consider my work as an impression and expression of traditional Ghanaian and contemporary Western cultural influences. My work explores the multitude of identities which is the result of migration as a part of the African Diaspora. Part of the African diaspora for me is the use of Adinkra symbols; a language of traditional symbols of Ghanaian origin. The word “Adinkra” means to say goodbye to one another when parting ways. The symbols represent proverbs and ideas about life and are based on non-figurative shapes, plant life, man-made objects, the human body and animals. I use them in a playful manner allowing the paintings to take on their own identities as graphic statements of the many realities of life.
