Yaw Owusu Ghanaian, b. 1992

Yaw Owusu creates sculptural installations that repurpose found objects, shifting the value of otherwise-worthless materials into encounters of beauty. Built from countless pieces of loose change, his work activates urgent questions around global economy and politics. Typical of Owusu’s approach to working with local agencies to develop his work, the artist acquired the coins by negotiating with banks – a bureaucratic process that is as important to the artist’s practice as the final works. Created as structural works that embrace the same organic qualities of their materials, his sculptures incorporated tens of thousand coins, transforming under various conditions and processes. The copper plated coins and industrial steel residue undergo various natural and chemical treatments, using oxidation and reduction process with salt, vinegar, and other elements to reveal their age and quality. They can appear fixed onto wooden panels, draped over walls or loosely hanging onto surfaces to form a camouflage, however they are anything but decorative displays of natural beauty. Instead, these installations are an expression of the artist's reflections on the complex processes exchange, circulation, and accumulation.

 Like the economy itself, the sculptures seem robust due to their dense façade, yet they are in flux and constant movement with their surroundings. The surfaces act both as protective layers of indestructible metal and a shiny foil made up of empty matter. Through his socially engaged yet visually rich practice, Owusu continues to question the non-functionality of the economic and political systems. While the material itself is inseparable from the failure of socio-economic structures, the artist's playful approach is rooted in a deep sense of playful alchemy that embraces the complex notions of value, exchange and locality in an increasingly global environment.

Yaw Owusu received his BFA in painting from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana and an MFA from Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York. He currently lives and works in New York and Accra.