She's wildly popular on Instagram and now this young female artist is making waves offline with her colourful and powerful pieces.
Sarah Owusu is a young, gifted, African artist whose colourful pieces often pack a powerful punch. The Ghanaian artists has a unique gift which she discovered whilst dealing with a difficult recovery and now she uses her gift to celebrate black figures throughout history.
Sarah has definitely turned her pain into passion when she discovered her love of art and her unbelievable talent whilst trying to navigate through her healing process after a devastating accident in 2012. In an interview with Integr8, Sarah said:
I found myself constantly running away from Art because of how it’s perceived mainly in the black, especially within the African community. However, every time I would do so, I would find myself itching to paint. I just couldn’t drop my love and my passion for Art.
I suppose the turning point for me was in 2012 when I had an accident and took to the canvas to convey how I was feeling. That eventually led to changing lives based on my testimony which I shared through my paintings. It was in this moment that I discovered my purpose and decided to pursue it on a more serious level.
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Having finally embraced her love for art and created a niche for herself, Sarah has used social media to call attention to her striking pieces and has amassed quite the following. A highlight of Sara;s career was when she got the chance to present two paintings to the President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo. Writing about the career-defining moment, Sarah said:
When I started my journey as an artist, I wasn’t always sure where things would lead to so I felt the fear and done it anyway. What always keeps me going are Gods promises for me. Proverbs 18:16: “A gift opens the way and ushers the giver into the presence of the great”. Yesterday I was blessed with the opportunity to gift two of my paintings to His Excellency, The president of Ghana, @nanaakkufoaddo during a private meeting at the Africa Business summit. I always knew I would have the pleasure of meeting him one day but I never thought it would happen this soon. To top things off the beautiful First Lady @rakufoaddo said she loves it and we all know the saying, happy wife, happy life ❤. What an honour it was to receive such wise words from the President himself.
According to her website, called 'Owosuism':
Sarah Owusu was born in London, United Kingdom in 1991. She studied at the University of Essex, earning a BSc (Hons) Psychology. Owusu is a self-taught Ghanaian British artist. After years of painting, she soon identified her own unique style. Using acrylic and mixed media, at the base of Sarah’s work lies very striking, colourful and exuberant strokes as a way of expression. Primarily focusing on portraiture, across her work, you will also find assertion of both her Black and African-ness primarily through her choice of subjects.
Her bright, abstract and sometimes distorted portraits of herself, prominent figures continue to help reclaim Africa’s rich history, culture and heritage. She paints those who have helped to shape history particularly Black and African history, the young and the old which often tell a story. She explains, “God is the most famous, talented and creator of all creations. I may be the one holding the brush, but it is He who executes it all.”
She currently works as a full-time artist in London, UK.
With Diddy recently hitting the headlines for buying a piece \ of art from a black artist worth a staggering $21m, it's clear that young, black artists are finally having their turn in the spotlight and their work is being recognised and having significant value placed on it.