Araba Opoku
Currently a student at the University of Ghana, Legon, studying psychology, Maame Araba Baboa Opoku is a multidisciplinary artist, creative director, and collaborator.
Her body of work ranges from abstract paintings to more specific projects and explores the various mental health issues of individuals in families and how these families are portrayed as perfect on the outside.
Courtesy of Nii Odzenma and the artist
If you would like to learn more about Araba’s works, please visit her artist page or follow her on Instagram.
About:
Maame Araba Baboa Opoku currently lives and works in Accra, Ghana, her place of birth. Having no formal education in fine art, Araba has mastered artistic creation through her A-level art education, as well as by following various workshops and online courses, in addition to residences she has been a part of. Being surrounded by creative minds enriches the artist through artistic exchanges and discoveries. Highly interested in psychology and sociology, Araba is pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and aims to later pursue a Master's degree in Fine Art.
Araba Opoku, Samachesia Street, 2022. Acrylic on canvas, 180 x 140 cm. Image courtesy of Kwadwo Asiedu and the artist.
Artemartis is a Ghanaian-based art collective and agency of which Araba has been a member since March 2019. The collective exposes its members to galleries and projects in the region and organises various international projects, such as the collaboration with Phillips London in February 2022 called Birds of a Feather in which artists from the collective exhibited their works at the auction house’s London headquarters.
By simply tapping on one’s smartphone, we are able to collect instant snapshots of scenes depicting everyday life. Araba takes pictures of anything she encounters and finds inspiration from bottles, a pool of water, poly tanks, or any element that might be intriguing and ignites a need for documentation. This collection of images creates an album of revelations for the artist, significantly inspiring her works. At times, her works directly derive from one of these shots.
The surrounding environment of Ghana is also a source of great inspiration to the artist who captures its details and distinctive traits. Greatly inspired by interior design, Araba imitates bathrooms, and more specifically Ghanaian bathrooms, which are often filled with busy colourful tiles and patterns. Influenced by these motifs, the artist creates works such as Sabolai Road in which decorations, colours, and surroundings come together in one fluid stroke.
Araba Opoku, Sabolai Road, 2022. Acrylic on canvas, 180 x 140 cm. Image courtesy of ADA Gallery & Kwadwo Asiedu.
By paying attention to space, Araba wishes for it to fade while creating its abstract imitations. By using abstraction, she wishes to make it difficult for the viewer to understand her initial depiction, forcing the spectator to reach their own conclusions and theories. By working with large-scale canvases, the artist hopes to create a god-like figure in the artwork, where one can almost worship it as it towers over the viewer, creating a mystic and fantastical ambience in which one gets lost.
Araba Opoku, Allamamba Street, 2021. Acrylic on canvas, 160 x 140 cm. Image courtesy of Kwadwo Asiedu and the artist.
When spilling, pouring, and mixing with water, Araba’s process requires a medium that dries quickly, currently driving her to rely on acrylics and canvases to create her artworks. While she is, at present, predominantly painting, the artist wishes to expand her artistic process to explore new frontiers ranging from installation works, video art, sound, and fashion.
Having grown up in a creative family, Araba’s mother’s dedication to fashion sparked an interest in the artist as well. In a recent collaboration with the Dutch textile brand Vlisco, the artist delved into the fashion world to create a set of prints and patterns. In 2019, Araba expanded her mediums to include skiagraphy as a pictorial technique by using X-ray films as canvases. In this series of works, the artist explores the elements within us. With the use of X-ray films, commonly employed in the medical field as a means to discover what is inside our bodies, she investigates interior problems and struggles that cannot be distinguished from one's outer physical appearance. She highlights the idea of mental health issues being invisible and unperceivable from the outside, making us slaves to our own minds.
The current theme explored by the artist is fluidity and memory as broad spectrums. Going in-depth into fluidity means exploring water, which most of her memories go back to. Recollections of fetching water, making sure water sustained herself, and water accessibility are all moments that Araba links to her life in Ghana. Due to various and common water shortages, this element is part of a larger battle fought by the country. Water is also reflective of fluidity and liquidity, constituents of the blending of things–the flow and mix of reality–subject matter that is central to Araba’s current productions.
The colour blue has been the predominant choice in this series due to its links to water and fluids. Indeed, Araba is also interested in colour theory and dedicates long periods of time to the study and discovery of the potential in each tone. Her dedication to studying, in-depth, one colour at a time, creates monochrome paintings that are accompanied by various hues of the same tone and small touches of warmer or cooler colours to create highlights.
Araba Opoku, Valco Road, 2022. Acrylic on canvas. 100 x 70 cm. Image courtesy of ADA Gallery & Kwadwo Asiedu.
In her wake of working with various galleries like ADA Gallery and Gallery 1957, participating in residences, and collaborating with brands and collectives like Cult Meraki, Araba wishes to travel to Nigeria, South Africa, Europe, and the US in hopes of learning more about global artistic practices.
Solo Exhibitions
2022
Come Hell Or High Water – ADA \ Contemporary Art Gallery – Accra, Ghana.
Group Projects & Exhibitions
2022
Birds of a Feather – Phillips x Artemartis – London, UK.
2021
ArtXLagos, Ko Art Gallery – Lagos, Nigeria.
2020
Afrifem Art Exhibition, Nubuke Foundation – Accra, Ghana.
Fragile Masculinity, Apple feature – California, USA.
Stations of Protest Exhibition, Cult Meraki/Nubuke Foundation – Accra, Ghana.
2019
AKRA Exhibition, Akra – Accra, Ghana.
Fullmoon Exhibition, Artemartis – Accra, Ghana.
Women in Art; A Conversation, Antique Lemonade – Accra, Ghana.
2016
Understudy of Kofi Setordji, Nubuke Foundation – Accra, Ghana
Residences
2022
Gallery 1957 – Accra, Ghana.
2021
Noldor Residency – Accra, Ghana.
Print Futures 1.0, Vlisco International – Netherlands/Accra, Ghana.
2020
AKRA residency project, Akra – Accra, Ghana.
Awards
2021
Yaa Asantewaa Art Prize – Gallery 1957, Accra, Ghana.
Beatrice Dalmasso
Emerging Artists Co-Editor, MADE IN BED