We were lucky to catch up with Emmanuel Aboagye recently and have shared our conversation below.

Emmanuel, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?

My story is one of hard work and grit. When I lost my mother at the age of 15, following her divorce from my father, there was no one to care for me. I stayed with neighbors and later with my paternal grandparents until I completed high school.

After high school, I had to work to support myself and save enough money to begin college. My decision to attend college was driven by survival. I had always wanted to become a professional soccer player, but in my home country of Ghana, there is limited infrastructure to support that path. As a result, I chose to pursue higher education.

I committed myself fully to my studies, excelled academically, and graduated with Honors (First Class), placing among the top 5% of my art class. After completing my undergraduate degree, I was selected to serve as a Teaching Assistant in the Faculty of Art, Department of Painting and Sculpture. I was dedicated to my work and became well-regarded by both students and peers.

My growing interest in Fine Art led me to pursue a Master’s degree. I applied to MFA programs both in my home country and abroad, and I was awarded a full scholarship to attend the University of Delaware, where I earned my Master of Fine Art.

After graduating, I secured a position as a university lecturer, teaching drawing, 2D design, and painting. Today, I see myself as both an artist and an educator, shaped by my journey, resilience, and commitment to growth.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My story is shaped by resilience, curiosity, and a deep commitment to both art and education. I was born and raised in Ghana, and my journey into the arts was not a straightforward one. After losing my mother at a young age, I had to navigate life with very limited support. That experience shaped my sense of discipline, independence, and purpose. My decision to pursue higher education was rooted in survival, but it quickly became a space where I discovered my voice through art.

I trained as a painter at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana. I later served as a Teaching Assistant in the Department of Painting and Sculpture before earning a full scholarship to pursue my MFA at the University of Delaware.

Today, I work as both an artist and an educator. My creative practice focuses on painting and mixed media, often using unconventional materials such as junk mail, plastic bags, and transferred images. My work engages with themes of memory, identity, migration, and material culture, often drawing from personal and collective histories.

As an educator, I teach drawing, 2D design, and painting. I see teaching as an extension of my practice. I help students develop not only technical skills but also critical thinking, encouraging them to question the materials, and the world around them. I am particularly invested in mentoring young artists and helping them find their own visual language.

What sets me apart is the way I bring together material experimentation, conceptual depth, and lived experience. My background allows me to approach art not just as a formal exercise, but as a way of thinking through survival, transformation, and possibility. I am interested in how materials carry histories and how the idea of making painterly images can hold and meaning.

I am most proud of how far I have come from a difficult upbringing to becoming a practicing artist and university lecturer. I am also proud of the impact I have had on my students, many of whom begin to see themselves as artists through the work we do together.

For potential collaborators, students, or audiences, I want them to know that my work is grounded in honesty, process, and inquiry. I am committed to pushing the boundaries of painting, exploring new ways of making, and creating work that invites reflection and dialogue.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

As both an artist and educator, my mission is also to create spaces where critical thinking and experimentation can happen. I want to challenge traditional ideas of painting and image-making, while encouraging others to find their own voice and approach to art. My creative journey is driven by a deep interest in understanding how images carry meaning, memory, and identity. My goal is to explore the idea of the image not just as an object of representation but an object that offers opportunity for contemplation, to investigate history and to provoke questions about our everyday life.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Having lost my mother and having to experience broken home, navigating life as a teenager was tough. What really stands out to me is not just the hardship, but the mindset it forced me to develop. I learned how to persist without immediate support, how to stay focused without external validation, and how to build something for myself from very little. Choosing to pursue art was, in many ways, a risk but it was also a commitment to creating a different future. Making Art gave me some hope to survive.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: yawaboagye1