Musah Swallah

Categories: Teaching Artist, Visual Arts, Community Arts, Street Art

As a Ghanaian visual artist, I use art as a tool, which allows me to create awareness, provoke dialogue, and transform societies. Having moved to the U.S. in 2017, my paintings, mixed media works and murals often present stories that reflect the diversity of African and American cultural values, issues and life. My artwork brings to light social issues and speaks to youthful aspiration, activism within communities and the immigrant experience. Much of my art includes portraits and scenes depicting crowded cityscapes, which reflect the people and communities I comes into contact with.

You can see and feel the unification of communities in these painting from the homes, which are closely placed together, to the people sharing space and interacting with each other as they go about their daily lives. My art also has a special emphasis on women and their daily activities, because I believe that they are the heart and soul of every community.

I create paintings on repurposed wooden panels and mixed media pieces consisting of recycled materials such as wine corks and African wax prints. The irregularity of the wood I use has become an important aspect of the composition. I collect wood from various sources using scraps and narrow wooden planks, which I fit together to create a painting surface. In the creation of my works, I sketch and carve. I employ vivid colors and layered imagery, striking emotions and conveying a deep spiritual presence in the stories he portrays.