Toronto- based artist, Ekow Nimako, is changing the world one Lego LEGO brick at a time.
The internationally exhibiting Ghanaian- Canadian artist, is known for his use of black LEGOs to create powerful sculptures. Nimako's art explores themes of Afro-futurism and Black narratives. His unconventional art style and large-scale LEGO installations have drawn global attraction.
Nimako's art has been featured in museums, exhibits and publications all around the world. He has stated that he uses black LEGO's specifically for three main reasons: he likes the colour, it likely has the most versatile and diverse LEGO element base; and most importantly, the racial identity of the children he creates can never be denied.
Nimako's desire to embrace Black representation in the art space, is a part of a broader systematic change he welcomes with his Building Beyond Workshops and Vision Kits, that aim to apply real- world diversity to the LEGO community.
Most notably, Nimako's Building Black Civilizations collection brings to life historical narratives of Sub-Saharan Africa. The expansive collection takes a deep dive into these ancient African empires and traditions through an architecturally detailed lens. True to form, each piece is hand crafted entirely using black LEGO's.
His distinctive art style and one-of-a-kind sculptures caught the attention of The LEGO Group in 2022. Nimako was featured in a documentary short for the company, titled Rebuild the World, where he had the opportunity to talk about the potential of LEGO as an artform and explain the profound meaning behind some of his work. He also created a sculpture for The LEGO Group, called The Great Turtle Race.
We spoke with Ekow Nimako about his career beginnings, his plans to diversify the art industry one LEGO at a time, and where he sees the potential of his artwork in the near future.
Where would you say your interest in Black art began?
I've always been interested in Black art, but I didn't always see it. I think that my interest was heightened just before my exhibition Building Black Civilizations came out. At that time, I was quite influenced by the people around me. It helped to reignite my interest in Black art, but what that meant in modernity.
Is there anyone in particular that you would like to collaborate with?
It would be really cool to work with creatives that I respect, and I think have proven that they are operating within their gifts, like Janelle Monáe or Pharrell. It would be great to connect with these people and see what kind of things we can do to show the world something that they've never seen before.
I would also love to build another sculpture for The LEGO Group. That would be really fun and exciting.
Read up on the full interview with Ekow Nimako.
This story has been edited and condensed for clarity. Read the original version in the Fall/Winter 2023 edition of driver magazine.
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