This portrait of a Ghanian woman biting her sunglasses by artist Foster Sakyiamah uses both abstract and figurative strategies to convey the woman’s inner state of mind. Her body language and facial expression suggest a feeling of fun and delight, a sensation mirrored by the whimsical curvilinear patterns and vivid color relationships surrounding her. Sakyiamah’s paintings document and celebrate the everyday people and fashions of the people of Ghana, where he lives and works. As is evident in this portrait, movement is an important aspect of Sakyiamah’s practice. He studied gymnasts in order to understand the mechanics of the human body, and to learn how to capture a sense of motion in his paintings. The intense graphic quality of his compositions is an expression of Sakyiamah’s appreciation for popular culture, as well as a reflection of his own interests in the history and principles of design. The energy and dynamism that defines Sakyiamah’s canvasses is heightened by his deft juxtaposition of complementary forces. His precise and hard-edged portrayal of human figures is contrasted with his elegant and lyrical use of gestural lines. His rich and luxurious palette of black and brown flesh tones mingles with a luminous and bright rainbow of background hues. Particularly captivating is the exactitude of Sakyiamah’s craft. The graphic flatness of his pictures from afar juxtaposes sublimely with the lush and painterly impasto texture of his painted surfaces when viewed up close.