E14. A New Work of Art - with Nana Oduro Frimpong, Artist, Photographer, 2020 Adobe Rising Star

Ever Forward Club’s Ashanti Branch is joined by Nana Oduro Frimpong, a renowned artist, and photographer based in Ghana. Frimpong was recently named a 2020 Adobe Rising Star of photography.  (1:37) Ashanti’s introduction.  (3:55) Frimpong introduces himself and the journey that led him to art.  (5:20) Ashanti and Frimpong go back to the moment when Frimpong fell in love with photography and how it started while sitting under a tree, taking photos, at a time when he was deferring his college education to help his mother financially.  (11:10) The men prepare to share their masks, and Ashanti gives context to the mask-making process.  (12:50) Ashanti shares the front of his mask - funny, serious, and hard working.  (14:25) Frimpong shares the front of his mask - talented, happy, strong, hard-working, and friendly.  (15:20) Ashanti shares the back of his mask - fear, sadness, and trauma. They discuss the difference between fear of failure and fear of success, whether success actually raises more questions and uncertainty than failure.  (18:13) Frimpong shares the back of his mask - angry, lazy, doubtful, joy of being alone, funny, and sarcastic. We learn a little bit about each, and then fully examine why Frimpong holds a lot of anger, and why that anger comes back to being conditioned as a child to compare himself to others.  (21:32) Both men relate to the idea of not being satisfied with their work, whether it is Ashanti’s videos or Frimpong’s artwork, they both have an inner critic with which to reckon.  (24:18) Frimpong shares how his mother fosters his creativity, whereas friends from his community have difficulty pursuing their passions when their parents have differing expectations.  (27:00) We learn about what’s next for Frimpong, how he wants to help others become an artist like himself, and his artistic process - going from sketches to photography to Photoshop.  (29:13) Ashanti shares his mask sketchbook.  (31:44) Frimpong shares one of his most recent pieces, which is very similar to Ashanti’s work with the front and back of masks.  (36:20) Frimpong gives a message to the young people in his community and shares how you can get in touch with him.  ---  Connect with Nana Oduro Frimpong:  Instagram: instagram.com/frizzlemadeit  ---  Create your own mask anonymously at www.100kmasks.com  If you are interested in being on the Face to Face podcast, email us at [email protected]  ---  Connect with Ashanti Branch:  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/branchspeaks  Instagram:    https://www.instagram.com/branchspeaks/  Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/BranchSpeaks  Twitter:   https://twitter.com/BranchSpeaks  LinkedIn:    www.linkedin.com/in/ashantibranch  ---  Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/branch-speaks/message