About
The 16 new artworks in this series thread together elements of West African mask-making traditions, science fiction, geometric figures and interstellar vessels to create an amorphous futuristic tapestry. The interlacing of natural elements and the primary geometric forms often associated with LEGO® evoke an aesthetic that is at times haunting, futuristic and simultaneously traditional.
The sculptures are influenced by the cultural, spiritual and political roles of masks in West African societies, as well as the symbolism they inherit of coming of age, death, birth and rebirth. The works embrace the particular challenge of articulating mood, expression and movement in the mounted visage of a mask. Familiar silhouettes take unpredictable, exciting turns, inspired by the evolving artistic tradition of Afrofuturism and the deliberate repurposing of both conventional and unconventional LEGO® elements. From a conceptual perspective, Nimako envisions the sculptures as biotechnological ancestral spacecrafts, whose cosmic journeys predate archetypal sci-fi narratives. This framing is significant since dominant worldbuilding tropes often rely on racialized cultural aesthetics, while depriving their constructed universes of textured, ethnic cohabitants.
Les 16 nouvelles œuvres de cette série entremêlent les traditions de fabrication de masques d’Afrique de l’Ouest, la science-fiction, les figures géométriques et les vaisseaux interstellaires pour créer une tapisserie futuriste amorphe. L’entrelacement d’éléments naturels et de formes géométriques primaires associées aux LEGO® évoque une esthétique à la fois troublante, futuriste et profondément traditionnelle.
Les sculptures s’inspirent des rôles culturels, spirituels et politiques des masques dans les sociétés ouest-africaines, ainsi que de leur symbolisme lié aux rites de passage, à la mort, à la naissance et à la renaissance. Les œuvres relèvent le défi particulier d’exprimer l’émotion, le mouvement et l’expression à travers le visage figé d’un masque. Des silhouettes familières prennent des tournants imprévisibles et stimulants, nourries par l’afrofuturisme et la réutilisation intentionnelle d’éléments LEGO® conventionnels et non conventionnels. D’un point de vue conceptuel, Nimako imagine ses sculptures comme des vaisseaux ancestraux biotechnologiques, dont les voyages dans le cosmos précèdent les grands récits classiques de la science-fiction. Cette manière de les présenter est importante, car les approches dominantes de la création d’univers s’inspirent souvent d’esthétiques culturelles racialisées, tout en excluant de leurs mondes imaginés des présences ethniques riches et complexes.
About Ekow Nimako
Ekow Nimako is a Ghanaian-Canadian, internationally exhibiting artist who crafts futuristic and whimsical sculptures using black LEGO® elements. Rooted in his childhood practice and intrinsic creativity, Nimako’s formal arts education and background as a lifelong multidisciplinary artist inform his process and signature aesthetic. His fluid building style, coupled with the Afrofuturistic themes of his work, beautifully transcends the geometric medium, embodying organic and fantastical silhouettes.
The evolution of his large-scale figurative installations led to the equestrian monument Cavalier Noir, conceptualized in collaboration with Director X in 2018. The monochromatic unicorn and warrior rider not only embodied hope and heroism but also subverted the dominant imagination of public monuments while centring underrepresented Black narratives.
Nimako’s installation, To Feed the Village, the Young Must Grow, presented a tender outdoor gardenscape concerned with the transmittance of sanctuary and harmony for vulnerable beings. The exhibit debuted at the 2019 Berlin Urban Contemporary Art Biennale, hosted by Urban Nation Museum for Urban Contemporary Art. In 2020, Nimako’s body of work, Building Black AMORPHIA, presented by Harbourfront Centre, featured artworks that wove together elements of West African mask-making traditions and organic forms to create an amorphous, fantastical tapestry.
Nimako’s medieval Africa-inspired series, Building Black Civilizations, opened in 2019 at the Aga Khan Museum. The architectural pieces explored speculative narratives of sub-Saharan Africa during the Middle Ages, with detailed references to African architecture, Islamic civilizations and African Futurism. The anticipated follow-up to this exhibition, Building Black Civilizations: Journey of 2000 Ships, premiered at Dunlop Gallery in Regina, Saskatchewan, in the fall of 2022, and has 2025 tour dates at the Art Gallery of Alberta, the Kelowna Art Gallery and the Robert McLaughlin Gallery, respectively.
Nimako’s work has been featured in media outlets and publications such as NOW Magazine, esse, Studio Magazine, the CBC, CBC Radio, Global News, Toronto Life, VICE, the BBC, the Toronto
Star, BlogTO, DAZED, CNN, SHARP magazine, WIRED, France24 and the Globe and Mail. Formalizing his official partnership with The LEGO® Group in 2022, Nimako’s art practice, creative process and educational workshop, Building Beyond, were highlighted in the D&AD Award-winning documentary short Rebuild the World, directed by LeSean Harris of Fela.tv.
In 2024, the LEGO Group collaborated with Nimako again, at its headquarters in Billund, Denmark, and in Paris, France, to launch its global #superpowerofplay campaign. Along with three other international contemporary artists and curators, Nimako was officially recognized by the company as a Play Ambassador, culminating in the exhibition of his figurative sculpture, Asaase Efua.
Nimako has exhibited works in Canada, the United States, Germany, France, Korea, the UAE, Austria and the United Kingdom. The TD Bank Corporate Art Collection, Global Affairs Canada Visual Art Collection, Urban Nation Museum for Urban Contemporary Art, the Seneca Art Collection and the Aga Khan Museum Permanent Collection have acquired his artworks.
