We were lucky to catch up with Vincent Frimpong recently and have shared our conversation below.

Vincent , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

Growing up in a family of five, our livelihood in an Ashanti household in Ghana was framed by hard work and struggle. The way we are taught is to work hard in trades, and that will enable our lives to move forward. My father gave me a motivational push that helped me realize the importance of schooling and earning income. He allowed me to see that my vision was to help people in the community to find resources, eat, and even just be a shoulder to lean on. This is how I came to continue my passion for art and cultivate my skills with the ceramic medium. One day a professor of ceramic arts came to my hometown and shared with me how I could make my dream become a reality with art if I wanted to. So I decided that once I had saved the money, I could apply to schools, go through interviews, and undergo my visa process to get to where I am now at the University of Arkansas. All of these actions came with a lot of planning, hardship, and mental dedication to ensure that I could have my dream of coming to the United States, going to grad school, and helping those I care for.

It is easy to succumb to fears and anxiety, yet I knew that I could move forward once I put my mind to this next step in my life. Going from many ways of income to needing to understand that just one person or even many people hold my chance for a new life in America because of the immigration and visa process. Every step I took was so I could move in a way that propelled me forward. As an immigrant, you can only imagine my shock at being treated differently in America once I was allowed to leave Ghana. The fundamental understanding is that you must bow down to those in power and not let the challenges derail your opportunity to cultivate life. I need to mention that being the only African in an institution, a critique space, and even on the plane to come here made me feel scared and othered. This is to say that I was not accepted and understood as me, nor my work, because my different experiences are not on many minds.

The reality is that I am an African-Black Man in white-dominated spaces, forcing me to be the spokesperson of myself, where I come from, and often be a representative for Africa. An example that still makes me stop and think is a man who once stopped me and shared he was surprised I had shoes on; he said, “I thought you didn’t wear shoes in Africa.” These stereotypes and discriminations have set back my mindset of what it can mean to come to the land of the free and home of the brave. If you want to know what taking a risk looks like, it is the culmination of all my lived experiences to get to where I am today. To be me, an artist, and to share these daily moments with you. An analogy from my home is, “you never put your hand near someone’s mouth even if they know you; eventually, they can bite you.” When I think about what taking a risk can look like in a positive light. These moments show me that I must continue to work hard to be and stay with what I have built.

All the ideas now show me that I will not give in to the mixed feelings, rage, and nostalgia of wanting to return to Ghana. Instead, I turn it around and say, “just put in the hard work, every time, every day, and I won’t say things are better, but slowly but surely, all will be okay.” I am working hard to give myself a chance to have a different life and choices in this life. It is hard to understand what life is like as an African and the struggles of being an African man, but there is hope.

The risks I am continuing to take are based on love and pride that I know I can make an impact on my people, to show them that even if our education, country, and identities are not taken seriously that I will show what it means to have dignity as an African, an Ashanti, and a Black man. The risk is to hope and take a step forward every day. The risk is to experience so much struggle that you can see it with clearer eyes of potential. The risk is to be bold and make and make and make. The risk is taking it all in and making space for myself and other Africans to shine and grow.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

Biography

Vincent Frimpong is a contemporary ceramic artist born in Accra, Ghana. He holds a B.A. in Industrial Arts (Ceramics option) from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Ghana. He was a teaching assistant in the Ceramic Section of the Department of Industrial Art, KNUST. His works are shown in multiple exhibitions, including Our Art, Our Time, Our Region in Walton Art Center Fayetteville, AR, Figure Grounded in Birmingham, AL, and recently had a solo show; I grew up with little at the PH Gallery in West Fork, AR. His artwork was selected for the cover of “Ghanaian ceramics now” Ahoɔden! presentation in the 2021 NCECA journal. He recently received the 2022 Zenobia award from Watershed in Maine, the 2022 Windgate University Fellowship Awardee for Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Haystack Recipient of the 2023 Fellowship, and the Creative Exchange fund Grant from Art Ventures Gallery. Vincent is a second-year MFA candidate and teaching assistant at the University of Arkansas School of Art.

Work/Artist statement

Over the course of my life I’ve been exploring the question ‘What does it mean to be an African?’ Affirming the core of African power within myself and others, permeates everything I do and all that I represent. My objects and installations at once draw upon history and simultaneously comment on the present. I have embraced mixed media processes to express and explore ideas regarding the richness of African history and pressing contemporary concerns addressing where we come from, where we are and where we are going.

I use mix media installation to create a space that allows for open dialogue between the audience and the space utilizing some elements of Ghanaian culture and human hand as a tool to explore the idea of what it means to be an African. As a concerned artist, I see, feel, analyze and make work to examine these realities. I am influenced as an artist by what I have been through since childhood, recollecting back the memories and experiences throughout my life while I elaborate on why they are significant to me specifically. I make installations that link the past,present and the future for Ghanaians.

I want my work to draw audiences to experience the richness of some aspects of African culture and their relevance to our contemporary world. It is my desire to make sculptural installations that communicate ideas to make viewers recognize that what people think they know is not always the whole truth.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

Resources that would have excelled my ceramic process and practice were access to technology and basic supplies; for example, kilns, 3D printing machines, and the ability to use materials without having to source them or improvise when they were not available physically. So much labor goes into art, even more so when you go to a school or live in a place that cannot make quick, sustainable, and essential additions to our art programs. When I look into ways to be creative, my mind comes up with many ideas on how I want the look to be. That is why I have found success in finding materials to expand my thoughts and do works through color, concept, display, and dialogue around African heritage, identity, and contemporary making.

Is there a mission driving your creative journey?

Firstly I want to share my pride in my Ashanti, African culture, and heritage. My mission is to make art and education a constant reality for my home community in Ghana. To share that I am making art not just for personal gain but to make an intentional impact that can change lives. Throughout my life, I have grown up with the strength of my heart and mindset of generosity, service, and African pride from my people and how I wish to give back through my art practice.

I make art to survive in a world that wishes to suppress the African identity and our resilience. This life is short, and if I can give back by returning to Ghana with learned skills, resources, access, and even a new perspective on life, my mission will always be to make with, for, and by Africans. The goal is always to uplift my culture, and now I am starting to do just that for myself in my creative practice.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.snipersart.com
• Instagram: Sniper_ceramica

Image Credits
©Larissa Ramey images 1-5 and ©Claire Brassil for image 6, Bearing Arms.