Painting marine animals and their environment has been his Nyarko’s major subject and focus for the past seventeen years, with fish being consistently depicted in all his paintings. Nyarko’s artwork explores the symbolism of fish in paintings and features numerous tiny fish on often large-scale canvases.
His paintings were totally abstract in the beginning, till he came closer to the fish by imagining himself living in the shark’s eyes. With time, these paintings have evolved dramatically to expressionism and impressionism. From simply painting them as they are, to painting them as living animals and placing them in their rightful place, the sea. The fish paintings reflect on the beauty beyond the sea and the life therein and urge us to stop pollution.
With this as his main source of inspiration and focus, Nyarko has been able to paint the shoals of fish movements in varying colours; in blues, reds, yellows, oranges, greens, browns and greys. He is currently painting with turquoise in oils and acrylics on canvas.
Painting about the symbolism of the fish has earned him the accolade, FISHMAN, by art collectors and art lovers. He tries to compose these paintings with much effort and energy, bringing into the paintings a spin, turn, push, spiral and tunnel movement and making sure every fish in the painting has an eye.
Nyarko’s titles capture the daily lives of the fish as in comparison with other lives and makes sure they carry a message for their being part of nature and our existence, too. As these paintings of his reflect on the oceans and their inhabitants, they carry a message of our obligation to care for them. Saving the seas is one of the strong messages which cuts across his titling. Bringing these paintings to all mankind is Nyarko’s ultimate goal and his contribution to the environment. He doesn’t want future generations to come to see current endangered species in the oceans only in pictures. ‘’When the last fish dies, the last man dies”.
Nyarko’s paintings are now all over the world. In Ghana, in private and public collections, like the Canadian and Danish High Commission and also the American, Russian and South African Embassies in Ghana. They are also exhibited in the San Diego Museum of Man in California (USA), London (UK) and Brussels (Belgium).