We recently connected with Emmanuel Asamoah – Kstony and have shared our conversation below.
Emmanuel, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?
I intend to lift the legacy of people like my grandmother, who used clay to form pots to bring water to our homes for daily use in a village called Bekwai. Where I come from, men are known for hunting, and many women make pots with clay for a living. Whenever we visited our grandparents on vacation growing up, I stayed home with my grandmother while she made pots and ceramic grinding bowls. Due to this experience, I had the opportunity to hold clay, and it has been a part of my life since I was a child. Being so familiar with the material and the people who use it as a daily resource and necessity, my passion was sparked to use ceramics to mold a new life for myself.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
Emmanuel Asamoah ( Kstony ) is a contemporary ceramic artist born in Kumasi, Ghana; growing up, l had a close bond with clay, and my grandmother’s craft sparked my passion for ceramics. This passion led me to pursue an undergraduate degree, earning a B.A. in Industrial Arts (Ceramics option) from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Ghana. After my undergraduate studies, l served as a teaching assistant in KNUST’s Ceramic Section. I’m a first-year MFA graduate student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln School of Art. My artistic journey is deeply rooted in using ceramics to honor my cultural heritage and community in Ghana. As a first-generation African immigrant in the United States, my art serves as a means to share and celebrate the pride of my home and culture with a global audience.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Teamwork, Collaboration, and Resilience are three values I take with high importance. Setbacks and failures are a part of life, but how you deal with those roadblocks is critical to your success. You can bounce back in the face of obstacles and failure; you don’t focus on the ups and downs. Instead, you stay focused on your long-term goals and never lose hope in yourself.
Alright, so before we go we want to ask you to take a moment to reflect and share what you think you would do if you somehow knew you only had a decade of life left?
I am currently dealing with some financial difficulties. As I try to accustom myself to life here in the U.S., I need substantial support to continue my education and passions at the University of Nebraska. I want to stay committed to my goals and growing career, and with this financial assistance, I can get back on my feet.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: kstonyart
