Owusu Ankomah overlays naked human figures with black Adinkra symbols in a fascinating way. Thus he “tattoos” the figures with knowledge, and covers them in wisdom. The symbols hover in the room, bringing everything together and dominating the foreground, playing the main part. Adinkra symbols are pictograms of plants, animals or other stylized objects. They reflect worldly wisdom, proverbs and moral concepts of the Akan philosophy. The artist applies this ancient and extremely significant symbolic language to his art, and in doing so transports the fruitful seeds of African traditions and wisdom to another age.

Dr. Maria Kohlert-Németh