Kwesi Awotwi is a London-based artist you may recognise from appearances on both Sky Arts Portrait and Landscape Artist of the Year. With a background in atelier painting, Kwesi has since developed a signature painting style full of energy with references to the historical art movements he admires. Following his solo exhibition ‘Reflections of Life’ at Cass Art Islington, we caught up with Kwesi to find out more about his work.
Hi Kwesi, thanks for taking the time to chat with us. Can you tell us a bit about your creative journey so far?
Since primary school I have always taken a liking to art, it started off with watching my favourite Saturday morning cartoons and drawing the characters in my sketchbook. It was one of my favourite subjects in secondary school. I always found it fun being creative in class. After completing my art BTEC Diploma, followed by a BA Hons Degree in Film and TV Studies, I decided I wanted to pursue a career as an animator, but I did not get onto the character animation MA programme. With the advice to develop my drawing skills at an Art School and reapply to the MA programme after, this lead me to London Fine Art Studios school where I trained for 5 years in Classical Atelier Fine Art.
Subsequently, in 2021, I produced and directed my first short film after graduating from Art School – “Tree of Roots” a documentary about rediscovering my roots as a British Ghanaian artist exploring Accra, the capital of Ghana, learning about the arts and culture.
The film went on to be screened at a number of film festivals including Aesthetica Short Film Festival and Barbican Leytonstone Loves Film. I also submitted a self-portrait which was selected by the judges of Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year 2022 and was thrilled to be a contestant on Series 8 on the show. In addition, in 2022 I took part in a few group shows, one being the Festival of Print with East London Printmakers, where I was one of the selected ELP Bursary Award winners.
What did you gain from your experience of taking part in Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year and how do you go about expressing character in your portraits?
It was a great opportunity taking part in the series, my confidence has increased as an emerging artist. I was really proud to tell my loved ones who have been supporting me over the years about this. On the Series I was a little nervous on the day – particularly drawing a portrait of Polly Walker within 4 hours, but to my surprise, I was impressed with the end result.
When I draw and paint portraits, I am expressive and loose with my strokes and how I add colour and highlights. I have applied this technique to my paintings both on canvas and rough sketchy pencil lines on paper. I was energetic with my pencil lines and use of mixed mediums for Polly’s drawing, it was quite fun to use pastels to capture a regal expression of her.
Your brushwork has such energy to it. Can you tell us how you developed your unique, expressive painting style?
In general, I am an energetic person and was an athletic, long-distance runner and swimmer and this energy has now been transferred into my artwork. I bring personal experiences to paper and canvas. My work is expressive because of the many hours I spent doing life drawing classes in the discipline of fine art combined with my interest earlier in pursuing a career route in becoming an animator.
. It is common practise for animators to produce quick gesture drawings and rough sketches – producing 24 frames per second, which means the animator has to be quick and have a loose hand. Most times the animator recreates gesture poses and actions from observing real-time movement, before making thumbnail sketches for their animation key poses.
This background trained my eyes to capture a lot of information during life and figure drawing classes and also in my observational studies.
Recently you took part in a residency with London Fine Art Studios, supported by Cass Art. How did that come about and tell us how it went, what were you working on and how did it help your practice?
It was difficult for me to pursue my career as an emerging artist when I completed Art School. I had to support myself financially and took on jobs outside of art, this reduced the volume of my artwork. I had also run out of studio space and could not produce big-scale projects. I needed the motivation to jump-start my art career thus I outlined a proposal and sent it to London Fine Art Studios for an Artist Residency and to my surprise, they gave me the opportunity to work in one of the studio spaces for two months.
This was really helpful, it also motivated me to work on my project, develop my own art practice and pull away from my classical training. This meant I would focus more on embodying different art movements into my work etc. African Art, Modern Art and Expressionism, the Harlem Renaissance and Dynamic Cubism. The Residency provided me with the necessary space to work on large-scale projects, producing work on wider canvases. I was able to complete at least two paintings for my “Kindred Portraits” – a project which shows a collection of paintings of my relatives.
You also recently appeared on Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year Series 8, what do you feel makes an interesting and engaging landscape painting?
Yes, I was very excited to be invited back on Sky Arts but this time as a contestant on Landscape Artist of the Year Series 8. I think what makes an engaging landscape is capturing the essence of what you’re seeing but also adding your own signature flare to the painting. This could be the amount of paint application, the use of texture and composition. You want the viewer to experience a representation of the landscape but it is also important to add your own personal imprint to define what you want the viewer to experience and also remember you by.
If we were to rummage around your studio, what art materials would we find?
In my studio you will find a mixture of brushes, paper, oil paints, blank canvas, pastels and pencils etc., materials that I have collected over the years. I don't really have a favourite brand I like to work with, usually it is about affordability and quality to get the job done. You will find two items which I deliberately bought for my art stationery collection which are Copic Markers to use for my mixed media drawings and some pan pastels I proudly own.
And finally, what’s next for you?
Now I am focused on producing new works for another solo exhibition project titled “Tree of Roots” which compliments my short film of the same name. The exhibition is an extension of the film and focusses on the art aspects of it. The aim is to exhibit my multidisciplinary art skills and experience. In addition, I am also actively seeking new open calls and opportunities and hope to take part in a new group show or residency that comes my way.
