Thinking the Microcron

The human figure is central to Owusu-Ankomah's widely heralded practice. In his earlier work, which drew heavily on masquerade and African rock paintings, these stylized male figures were more clearly visible, but over time, have been integrated into a complex fabric of signs that effectively camouflage the figure. These signs describe an actual and fictional cosmology that defines and contextualizes each of Owusu-Ankomah's figures. The signs are a mix of adinkra symbols (commonly in Ghanaian textile design), Chinese pictographs, consumer logos and invented symbols. The titular microcron, for instance, refers to circles of shining orbs and signifies "universes inside universes

The idealized form of Owusu-Ankomah's male figures is important too. The artists figures have been described as projecting the "divine energy"   "The physicality alludes to labour, which for Owusu-Ankomah is a high moral construct and a noble activity.

information retrieved from: https://www.straussart.co.za/auctions/lot/15-feb-2020/14