Art has always had a way of telling stories. Of who we are, where we come from and the things that connect us. For Ghanaian-born, London-based artist Kojo Marfo, storytelling is at the heart of everything he creates.

Known for his bold colours and distinctive abstract figures, Kojo’s work explores identity, culture and the shared experiences that make us human. Drawing inspiration from traditional African artefacts, Renaissance art and the wonderfully eclectic nature of London, his paintings offer a colourful perspective on the world around us, capturing what he calls “our now.”

We joined Kojo at his London studio to talk about his creative journey, the inspirations behind his work and the stories he hopes to tell along the way.

For anyone discovering your work for the first time, how would you introduce yourself and what you do?

I’m Kojo Marfo, a figurative abstract painter. My work is really about people how we treat each other, how we connect and how we understand ourselves in relation to the world around us. A lot of what I paint comes from my own experiences and the way I see the world. I’m interested in what I think of as “our now” this moment we’re living through, the human experiences and relationships that shape it, and how what we experience today eventually becomes the history of our time.

Where did your love of art begin?

My love for art really started when I was in primary school. I used to make these strange drawings just for my own amusement. I suppose I wanted to make people laugh, or maybe make them feel a bit uncomfortable or squeamish. At the time, I thought they were just meaningless drawings.

But looking back, I realise I was already interested in people and in documenting the human condition. I just didn’t have the words for it at that age.

Then I discovered Picasso’s work in the library, and that really opened something up for me. I remember thinking, maybe what I’m doing isn’t so meaningless after all. His work showed me that you could look at people and the world in a completely different way, and that art didn’t always have to explain everything.

You grew up in Ghana and now live in London - how have those places influenced your work and the way you see the world?

Ghana birthed me, but London shaped me. I often think of London as the best university I could have had. It’s a place I think every young person should experience before they get too caught up in the spectre of ageing and life becoming more settled.

London is such a great melting pot, although it has cracks in it, and somehow everyone is holding it together. It’s a city you come to learn about the world, and then the world turns around and stares back at you.

Ghana was very different. We lived more among ourselves, and there was a sense of familiarity, a kind of same-same. But London taught me to adapt to people who were completely different from me. I’m almost surprised I haven’t learned more languages living here!

That has had a huge influence on my work because my work is really about the human condition. London has been a perfect muse for me. It gave me Renaissance art as a starting point, but then it gave me multiculturalism,  all these different faces, cultures, identities and ways of living to explore through the human form.

So, in a way, Ghana gave me the inspiration, and London gave me the canvas.