Asare K. Dapaah: The young ‘presidential’ sculptor
When on September 17, 2015, President John Mahama unveiled a bust of his predecessor, the late Prof. John Evans Atta Mills, at a ceremony to commission a community day secondary school in the Central Region, only a few knew that the piece of artwork was the handiwork of a 24-year-old sculptor.
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The sculpture, which presently stands at the entrance of the Atta Mills Senior High School at Ekumfi Atuam, was designed and executed by Asare Kwesi Dapaah, a final-year student of the University of Education, Winneba, with some supervision from his lecturer, Mr Cyril Kpodo.
Dapaah, who could not hide his joy in being the skillful hand behind the bust of the late President said: “It’s humbling and refreshing to have such a prominent platform to showcase my work; it is even more fulfilling to have my work endorsed and commissioned by the President. Nothing can be more inspiring.”
He described his work as a physical manifestation of his talent and passion, as well as the professional training he acquired from secondary school and the university.
Sculpture rudiment
The nearly two-feet tall bust mounted on a four and half feet pedestal is made of polyurethane resin and fibre glass.
The work came to life after 16 days of meticulous work.
The sculptor described the stages of work as armature preparation, clay modelling, mould taking, casting, finishing and mounting.
Background
A native of Odumase-Krobo in the Eastern Region of Ghana, Dapaah attended Pope John Senior High School and Minor Seminary (POJOSS) where he read Visual Art and completed in 2007.
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In 2009, he enrolled at the Takoradi Polytechnic where he studied sculpture and graduated with a Higher National Diploma in Sculpture in 2012.
After successfully completing his national service, Dapaah entered the University of Education, Winneba (UCEW) in 2013 where he is currently studying for a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Art Education (with a major in Sculpture and Picture Making).
Other undertakings
Apart from sculpture, Dapaah also loves to do pencil and charcoal drawings of iconic figures. Some of such drawings include those of Nelson Mandela, Kwame Nkrumah and Kofi Annan.