INTRODUCTION

Phil Morrell is a multidisciplinary creative, whose work has spanned a wide variety of clients and themes. A Graphic Designer for fifteen years, he balances freelance design for clients predominately in the arts, dance, and film. With his art he uses striking paintings and mixed media to continue the customarily oral passage of tales from Ghanaian culture. Focussing on Ancient folklore, Adinkra symbology, and traditional Kente weaves. Connecting with a culture historically replaced with colonial tradition, and passing on the lesser known stories of heritage.

INTERVIEW

How did you get into your creative practice? What initially inspired you?

I initially fell in love with design as an art form through the works of Mucha, Klimt, and Faile. Seeing how their work could influence their worlds made me want to get into design, and find my own ways to change the world. My years in the field have given me the experience to bring those skills back to my art. Seeing how modern history has affected bygone ways of life, I wanted to make works to highlight erased and forgotten mythology and story.

What themes do you tend to interrogate in your creative practices?

Historic Ghanaian culture and folklore have become my main creative focus over the last year, trying to bring visuals to a lesser known and predominantly oral history. A history that was only passed down through storytellers and elders until the 1800s, when it began being documented. A tradition that saw religion and colonialism erase many of its stories which were passed down through the generations. In the same way that Pagan ritual was co-opted by organised religion, with holidays aligned with solstices. These organisations did the same to distance people from the stories of their ancestors. Stories of creation, destruction, weird and wonderful cryptids, gods, demigods, demons and a near endless history of craft.

What is your favourite project you’ve ever worked on and why?

Hot Snakes Studio, the collective I’m a member of, recently wrapped our Year of the Snake Exhibition at Custom House Gallery. That was the catalyst in creating some of the work I'm most proud of. With heavy influences from the pristine handiwork that goes into Kente cloth, looking at how faith clashes with culture and the personal choices that forces us into, all loaded with Ghanaian semiotics. This brought all my skills in design and art together as well as an opportunity to spend time researching and attuning to a part of my heritage that even my family in Ghana had little connection with.

What advice would you have for creatives of colour looking to get into your creative practices?

A few key things spring to mind - one of them is “Don’t ask, don’t get”. Having just a touch of moxie has opened more doors for me than I can count. It takes having a lot of fake confidence until the real thing finally shows up, but once it does it’s often where opportunity lives. Similarly don't be afraid to get in touch with people who inspire you, sometimes industry leaders can seem walled off - but honest communication easily dissipates those barriers.

What are you currently working on?

I still design the majority of the time, recently just finished an exciting project for an acrobatics show called The Genesis. Currently working with Kinfolk Network to create some print design for their excellent cause, and acting as Graphic Design mentor to a student at Napier Design. When not working on those I’ll be preparing for the Hot Snakes Studio for our annual Halloween event. I’m very lucky that the majority of my work is with other creatives as it makes for really positive outcomes.