Glover Marfo - Fearless

Artist: Glover Marfo, Ohio
Materials: brass
Size: 10
Dimensions: 2.5 x 2 x 4

Artist Statement: As a young Ghanaian artist exposed to the harsh realities of society by living in squatter housing in my formative years, I became fascinated at creating adornments which evokes protective sentiments, remain elegant, and convey a sense of power to both wearer and viewer. As a way of navigating my current socio-cultural space as a student in the US, I draw from my past and create sculptural jewelry borrowing from both African traditional and contemporary aesthetic languages while entertaining cross-cultural influences of my lived experience. My work also appropriates motifs and design attributes of vulnerable living organisms, their defensive mechanisms and, other attributes essential to their survival within their environment. Ultimately, my current body of work is a meditation on our shared struggle for survival, evolution, and pursuit of a better world.

Artist Bio: Glover Marfo was born in Ghana, West Africa. He obtained his undergraduate B. A. degree in Integrated Rural Art and Industry in 2014 at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, Ghana. He received his Master of Arts in Studio Art at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Illinois in 2020. Currently, he is pursuing Master of Fine Arts at Miami University, Oxford Ohio. (2020- 2023) His work has been exhibited at national and international venues including, Tarble Art Center, Charleston, Illinois; Hiestand Gallery, Oxford Ohio, Eastern Illinois University’s Gallery 1910, Charleston, Illinois; OH Gallery, Missouri; and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi Ghana. He has also been included in publications such as the Blue Room Magazine and Jewelry Activist Publication. Awards and grants include: Irene Couchman Buzzard Scholarship, Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, IL Distinguished Graduate Student Award for the Department of Art and Design Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, IL Honorable Mention Award for the “UT OMNES UNUM SINIT”, The 400th Exhibition Race, Racism and Social Justice. Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, IL Grant in Aid Award in support of graduate research, Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, IL Distinguished Student Award in Art Faculty, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana Best Sculpture Student, St. Thomas Senior High Technical School, Asamankese Ghana. He is currently the graduate student representative for the Department of Art, Miami University in Oxford Ohio, and President of the Graduate Student Association of Ghanaians in the USA (Grasag- USA). He was the Public Relations Officer, Association of International Students at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, IL. He also served as the President of the Faculty of Art at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, Ghana.



This ring is part of Battle of the Rings: Ring Smackdown 2022, an online exhibition and competition. Shop the entire collection HERE, view the matches HERE, and learn more HERE.

Rings from this collection will ship or be available for pick up after the competition concludes on April 29.