The Fresh As Fruit Gallery, led by Stetson digital arts professor Madison Creech, her husband (and maker of delicious Trilogy coffee drinks) Matthew Creech, and studio arts professor Katie Baczeski, displays visually stunning shows by up-and-coming artists of all forms each month. The gallery’s home this year is at Tom’s Auto Repair with displays in the wrap-around window, perfect for socially-distanced viewing and talking. This September, sculpture artist Emmanuel Opoku presented his artwork to viewers.
Opoku takes a lot of inspiration from his native country. Originally from Ghana, his work involves found objects and thrifted materials that work together to reflect on social roles, history, culture, and nostalgia. A few of the projects had sheets of metal sewn together with cut-outs to look like combs. Some included household objects, like frying pans or shower heads. Softer textures made appearances in woven fabric and in locks of hair. A wire self-portrait woven with rope-like fabric held its place in the center.
Opoku, a graduate of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and current MFA student at the University of Florida, incorporated sewing, weaving, braiding, and other nods to hair to reflect on the tradition of weaving in Ghana and the treasured hairstyles worn by women there. The exhibit juxtaposed these beautiful traditions with the thrifted materials in a complicated mix of delicate tradition and modern hardware.
Fresh As Fruit’s next gallery exhibit date is yet to be decided, but you can find them on Instagram at @freshasfruitgallery.
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