The Building Blocks of Creativity with Ekow Nimako

Artisans Exposed Projects presents: One Flow: A series of short interviews with uniquely passionate performers and artisans.

By: Jojo D

Unique, eclectic and uberifically creative, is how I describe Ekow’s Flow.

I became interested in Ekow and his art because it touches a part of a human experience we have all shared and still luv today. LEGO, a household playtime activity, was founded in 1932 by Ole Kirk Kristiansen, a Danish carpenter. LEGO, literally means ‘play well’…and we did. LEGO has maintained its dominance and world wide appeal for nearly 80 years and there is no sign of slowing down. In fact, over the years, LEGO has introduced a wide variety of building kits, blocks and interactives that continue to attract and engage the kid in all of us. They have branched out and tapped into exciting accessories and exclusives such as robotics, video games, vehicles, books, and the prestigious LEGO Master Builders Academy. Their Star Wars collection, one of their most popular series, is just one glowing example of how they have kept relevant over the years.

As LEGO continues to gain popularity in young and old alike, there are those who have taken ‘building’ to new heights. The most creative of those gain respect and notoriety within the LEGO world community and amongst those are a lucky few that have become certified professional builders exclusively for LEGO. There is only a handful of LEGO recognized professionals and the road to the top is long and arduous but once the pinnacle is reached, the sky is the limit of what can be achieved within the LEGO world community. And, it is a world onto itself!

Ekow is amongst a select group of professional unofficial builders. Unlike official LEGO builders, Ekow is free to creativity explore just about anything he wants to and retains all creative control. He is an independent Lego builder who has established much success over the years through commissions, exhibits and curated projects.

This is Ekow's FLOW.....

Who: Ekow Nimako

What: Visual Artist

When: I've been building with LEGO since I was five years old. My professional art practice began in 2012.

Where: I live in Toronto, Ontario

Why: From as far as I can remember I wanted to work for LEGO, or work with it at any rate, and now it has become a reality. I made it a reality. I can honestly say there aren't many things I enjoy more in the world than building.

How: When constructing beings, creatures, or other living structures out of LEGO, creative play becomes this very natural, alter-biological process for me where creation seems to occur on the molecular level. I always start with the eyes, and everything else takes shape from there.

How did your fascination with LEGO begin & how old were you?

I remember being five years old and moving from London England (where my family lived for a year), to London Ontario, and I remember that from then on it was LEGO, G.I. Joe, and Transformers all day. Now it's just LEGO. Those Michael Bay movies have long lost their muchness.

Where do you commonly draw inspiration for your designs and/or is it always evolving?