Building Black Mythos: DIVINITIES
Look closely at these statues. What are they made of?
The hundreds of thousands of LEGO® pieces here are ordinary parts anyone can buy. A repurposed LEGO piece from a race car set has become a cheek. Those angular forehead parts came from a Star Wars kit. Here, Ghanaian-Canadian artist Ekow Nimako uses this versatile material to explore African mythology. The human figure is a trickster god from the Akan people of Ghana, named Kweku Ananse. What animal do you think he transforms into? (Hint: Count his arms and legs!) Accompanying him are some imaginary creatures: a dragon-cat, called a Kadeesa, that guards two angelic infant messengers for the gods.
© 2024 Ekow Nimako
BUILDING BLACK™ and BUILDING BLACK MYTHOS™ are trademarks owned by Ekow Nimako.
About the Artist
“My goal is always to animate the inanimate, to create entities that breathe life into their environment.” —Ekow Nimako
Ekow Nimako was three when he first snapped together LEGO® pieces. Now, this contemporary Toronto-based artist uses them to explore Africanfuturism and Afrofuturism: imagining Africa and the African diaspora across time and space. His whimsical works range from spacecraft-shaped masks to otherworldly cities of the past and future.