Threadwork, 'Escape'

Wrought in brilliant red, the Atiko Gyawu symbol swirls in exquisite symmetry. It is said to be inspired by the shaved head of Gyawu, a Bantama king of the Ashanti people who escaped imprisonment. Atiko refers to the back of the monarch's head. It is a symbol of high social standing. Randy Abeka Abbam creates the bright image by patiently gluing cotton thread to a card stock base. Ghanaian Adinkra symbols such as this one represent popular sayings. Cotton thread on card stock, the work arrives in a frame of tweneboa wood.