In our #TheSpotlight Series, we always bring to you interesting characters, today a surreal artist and photographer, Nana Frimpong Oduro, to whom art has been the only thing that has given him a strong voice through which he speaks to many.
Nana Frimpong Oduro is an artist from Ghana who creates surreal images with a camera. He is a photographer and artist who has received praise for his work on a global scale and was recognized as an "Adobe Rising Star" in 2020.
“Art has been the only thing that gives me a strong voice and makes me more expressive. Growing up in Ghana has been exciting and has helped me as a person. I appreciate every moment.”
He initially took pictures with his smartphone and posted them online, where he gradually achieved popularity. His works so far have been featured in magazines including Perazim and LensCulture, and in 2019 a stranger gave him his first camera since they both enjoyed seeing his Instagram images.
Oduro aims to reveal a person's internal struggle with themselves through his unfiltered, and unprocessed photographs. He occasionally employs photo-editing to help communicate the emotions in his works better.
What do you love about Ghana and being Ghanian?
What I love about Ghana is the peace and mostly the beach.
What dreams did you have growing up and are you currently actualizing them? Or did your career path change along the way?
My dream was to be an architect but circumstances made me change my career path I love the fact that I still get to express my artistic side.
On your page you wrote, "I can't write poems so I turn them to art" Why do you love poems, words, and the literary side of art?
Poems or literary side of art are ways a person can indirectly express their emotions and at the same time try to get different meaning to their art. It kind of causes confusion and that’s what I love about poems the most.
Tell us briefly about your journey into art. How did you begin?
My art life began in childhood. As a child, the only thing I could identify myself with was art.
Beauty comes in all forms, what do you say to those who criticize your art?
This is the only way I can be myself.
What's your source of inspiration? Do you admire the works of anyone in particular?
My inspiration comes from different sources, like; paintings, photographs, music, life experiences, and observations.
“The head stands for our being, which is the head is our house. It carries our emotions and everything we have experienced in life. Faces are mostly used to represent the current state of our emotions.”
Nana Frimpong Oduro said when asked why “heads” and “Faces” often play a significant role in his pictures.
When you were named "Adobe rising star" in 2020, how did you feel?
I felt like a lost child who has finally been found.
What's your favorite artwork so far and why?
Emotional Guidance because it stands for how amazing it is to have someone support you emotionally.
Walk us through your creative process and journey. As an artist of course you have a picture in your mind before you begin so tell us how we come to see these images we see from you.
I put myself in an emotion, painting, or sculpture. And the idea creates a different mental picture then I go according to what I see in my mind.
What's it like, "Life of an artist" and how do you handle creative blocks?
I just feel the moment and do other activities but most importantly, as soon as I hold a pencil the blocks disappear.
“Be yourself and stay true to yourself.” That’s Nana Frimpong Oduro’s message to young artists hoping to venture into art and sustain it.