By John Owoo
(In Accra – Ghana)
Currently on view at Ada Gallery, nestled within the plush Villagio Vista apartments in Accra, is an exhibition featuring the works of six artists whose practices explore how tactile and visual elements shape our perceptions of identity, heritage and the creation of personal sanctuaries.
Bringing together Sika Amakye, Mimi Adu-Serwaah, Araba Opoku, Na Chainkua Reindorf, Roisin Jones and Tizta Berhanu, the show assigns a distinct colour to each artist, while symbolizing the core of their artistic expression. This chromatic pairing underscores the metaphysical resonance of materiality and weaves a mosaic of narratives that traverse the realms of enlightenment, purification and rebirth.
Curated by Sosa Omorogbe, the artists conjure a luminous metamorphosis, where pigments, textiles, metals, and memory dissolve and reassemble into forms richer than their beginnings. Like alchemists of the invisible, they summon the spirit of transformation, showing that art is not a fixed state, but a ceaseless unfolding – a dance of renewal and endless reinvention.
Amakye transforms secondhand textiles, intricate beadwork and reclaimed objects into powerful expressions of ancestral history while reimagining their relevance in the contemporary world. Through her art, she creates a dynamic portal that navigates identity, community and the art of intergenerational storytelling, all woven into tactile compositions.
Adu Serwaah’s use of wire mesh, raffia, stone beads and metallic pigments underscores a continuous process of metamorphosis. In her work, the acts of fragmentation and reconstruction become profound revelations of resilience, mirroring the alchemical transformation journey. The metallic tones, which shift with changes in light, symbolize both movement and renewal, embracing the delicate balance between decay and rejuvenation.
Reindorf’s work blends masquerade traditions with contemporary storytelling, reimagining cultural narratives through disguise and transformation. Stitching and fabric are woven throughout her pieces, symbolizing change, while her figures undergo both physical and symbolic evolutions, embodying red’s duality – destruction and creation, sacrifice and empowerment.
Opoku delves into the fluidity of cognition, memory, and identity, with her background in psychology deeply influencing her approach. By layering textures, she creates works that reflect the ever-shifting nature of selfhood, forging a connection between the intellectual and the visceral – like an alchemist who refines raw materials into something profound and elevated.
Reindorf’s art intertwines masquerade traditions with contemporary narratives, reimagining cultural stories through the lens of disguise and transformation. Stitching and fabric run through her compositions, symbolizing change, while her figures undergo both physical and symbolic metamorphoses, embodying the dual nature of red – destruction and creation, sacrifice and empowerment.
Jones delves into the alchemy of adornment through the color pink, a hue often associated with love, softness and introspection. Drawing inspiration from Morocco, Thailand and Japan, she views embellishment as a sacred practice where the layering of patterns and textures becomes an act of renewal.
Berhanu’s paintings, awash with swirling pigments, evoke dreamlike realms where emotions take on a palpable form. In her work, colors serve as both medium and message and her brushstrokes blur the lines between presence and absence, demonstrating how hues shape emotional experience, much like ancient alchemists sought to transmute base materials into gold.
Titled “The Alchemy of Colour and Matter”, the exhibition ends on Sunday April 27, 2025.
