Artist Profile

James Mishio (b. 1997) is a Ghanaian visual artist whose practice centres on portraiture and figurative painting, exploring themes of identity, memory, and cultural heritage through an experimental use of materials. Working with oil, acrylic, pastel, and fabric, he employs an impasto technique applied with a palette knife to create richly textured surfaces that emphasise the physical and symbolic presence of his subjects. Central to Mishio’s work is an exploration of African identity, with skin tones and layered materials serving as repositories of personal and collective histories. The incorporation of used clothing extends this dialogue, functioning as a metaphor for continuity and transformation—an expression of “life after death” in which materials are granted renewed meaning beyond their original purpose.