In his sculptures and installations, Ghanaian born artist, El Anatsui, transforms simple, everyday objects into grand, totemic assemblages. He combines disparate materials such as bottle caps, printing plates, cassava graters, copper wiring, and sheet metal into both floor-based sculptures and shimmering wall pieces that sway and flex like cloth, despite their rigid composite materials. The artist’s latest creation, the “Checked Key” project, is made of eight hand-sculpted and formed printed aluminum sections with hand-cut edges and copper wire. This unique composition recalls movements in the Western canon that include Abstract Expressionism, Pop art, and Post-Minimalism. It equally draws from other art forms and non-Western traditions, such as hand-engraved and embellished bindings with precious stones and gold, and is the perfect example of the artist's internationally recognized sculptures.

“ If you touch something you leave a charge on it, and anybody else touching it connects with you, in a way. „

—El Anatsui