The Artists of Heartside Gallery and Studio-- Magnus Anyanwu

Our featured artist for February is Magnus I Anyanwu. Here is a little about the artist, in his own words:

"I grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan and first started drawing and building at an early age. Sometimes I would go over to my brother’s friend’s house and build machines out of Legos-- which prompted my mother to buy me a set of my own. My talents were fostered by those Lego experiences, as well as an environment of different books and National Geographic magazines. We would also frequent the museums that were full of rich history and ancient relics. I loved to look at all the different sculptures and paintings, and these were some of my fondest memories as a child. We did not have much money but my mother made sure we were exposed to the arts and cultures. 

It was not until I moved to Grand Rapids that I was exposed to comic books, which made my imagination flourish and further sparked my curiosity. Reading the different stories and watching the artists push the boundaries of art and story-telling to their limits was amazing. I was also exposed to Japanese animation, and the first films that I remember watching were Akira, Battle Angel and Ghost in the Shell. A lot of this shaped my concepts on how far animation and art could escape the boundaries of modern thinking, and gave me a passion and interest in filmmaking.

Around this time I was exposed to my first Japanese and Sailor Jerry tattoos, when I finally decided to go to college. Despite so much familiarity with art, I decided to only go into engineering and computer technology. This interested me a great deal and added to my skills as an artist and designer, though I still was looking for something that was more on the creative side but allowed me to use an engineering edge. A few years later I enrolled in the Kendall Collage of Art and Design for industrial design studies, as I felt this was the right mixture of engineering plus design with the freedom for creativity. During this time I was introduced to Heartside where I developed a passion for painting.

The environment at Heartside allows me to experiment with many different art mediums, which furthers my knowledge of the creative art process. It is my belief that all things are based on art in some way. All of these things are defined through the different ways of our personal and individual creative processes and uses."

The Artists of Heartside Gallery and Studio is a monthly feature to highlight some of the wonderful people of the Heartside neighborhood. Visit www.heartside.org, Facebook and our Flickr page to keep up with us, to learn about volunteering and other ways to get involved.

Sarah Scott is Arts Coordinator for Heartside Gallery and Studio at Heartside Ministry, and can be reached at [email protected].