James Mishio

"James Mishio’s work explores the politics of identity and perception, focusing on how men with dreadlocks are often marginalized in contemporary Ghanaian society. His IDENTITY series, inspired by personal experience and figures like Ahmad Cissé, challenges these biases through layered compositions in oil, fabric, and impasto. Each portrait becomes an act of affirmation — a quiet resistance that honors strength, dignity, and individuality. The tactile richness of his materials mirrors the complexity of African identity, while his attention to the gaze speaks to our shared need for recognition and understanding. In Mishio’s hands, portraiture becomes a reclamation of visibility — an assertion that authenticity itself is a profound form of power."

MEET

James Mishio

James Mishio is a self-taught Ghanaian artist whose work explores themes of identity, community, and belonging. Rooted in the rhythms of Accra, his portraits transform everyday figures into universal symbols of human connection. Using oil, fabric, and impasto, Mishio creates tactile surfaces that evoke memory and warmth. His work has been shown at Phillips Auction House’s Birds of a Feather, with Artemartis, and in London galleries, reflecting his ongoing search for new ways of seeing and understanding through the quiet power of the gaze.

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