When Nana Ekow Maison was an art student at Kwame Nkrumah University, he studied Western art movements such as Baroque and Realism more than the art from his African homeland. The Ghanaian painter did not discover his homeland influences until he began graduate degree studies at Bradley University in Peoria, Ill.
While working on his thesis, "Ghanaian Art," Maison became familiar with the Asafo Flags of his Ghanaian ethnic group and decided to incorporate their symbolism and simplicity in his own works.
Wearing a baggy Ghanaian fugu shirt, Maison presented about 15 of his most recent works to an audience of friends, family and art enthusiasts Thursday night at Gordy Fine Art & Framing in downtown Muncie. Sutton Elementary Art teacher Carol Burt, who focuses mainly on pottery, also presented her art at the opening.
The event was part of the monthly First Thursdays series in which downtown art galleries host an opening gallery for new exhibitions. The series began three years ago, and Gordy Fine Arts & Framing, The Artist Within and Gallery 308 work together to promote the event.
Maison got the gallery gig last fall, when he sent his digital portfolio to Jenny Gordy, co-owner of Gordy Fine Art and Framing. Gordy said the CD with the samples of Maison's art on it sat on her desk "far too many weeks" before she looked at it.
"I had never heard the name before, and then finally I put it in [the computer], and it was an immediate 'Wow ... this is really powerful stuff.'"
Gordy and her husband, Brian, who she runs the store with, were immediately riveted by the pieces complied in Ekow's digital portfolio, she said.
"We've looked at thousands and thousands of pieces, so when something really grabs upon first looking at it, it's really exciting," she said. ""When it's all said and done, they're just beautiful [paintings]."
Maison came to Muncie in August 2006, when his wife, Barbara began working on her master's degree in public relations at Ball State University. The couple and their 14-month-old son, Nyamedze, live in Ball State Scheidler Apartments under a student's visa.
Maison relies on pointillism, the technique of placing small dots on a canvas so they appear to form a larger image from a distance, in his paintings.
Muncie resident Mike Statler said the paintings were "fascinating" and in stark contrast to the Western art he's used to seeing.
"I've never seen anything like it," he said. "The dots almost seem like they're coming at [the viewer]."
Maison also utilizes symbolism in his art, incorporating both traditional Ghanaian symbols and icons that hold specific significance to him. A stick figure wearing a hat with outstretched limbs represents himself. The outstretched limbs represent his free spirit and the hat is where he stores American cultural facts, he said.
Though Maison has earned success in Ghana and America, he said he will continue to experiment and grow as an artist.
"I want [the art] to be refreshing," he said. "That's basically what I look for in my work. I want to make every new piece different than the last."
Gordy said that though the gallery opening was not until 5 p.m., almost every shop patron Thursday afternoon stopped to examine Maison's vivid, "vibrating" works.
Maison's paintings are effective because they display expert technique as well as imbedded content and meaning, she said.
"He has an artistic statement that is pretty unique," she said. "He doesn't make art for art's sake. It is a kind of spiritual and personal story he's telling. He's not just making art for someone to stick on the wall. It has a depth and a sincerity."
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