German-born Ghanaian performance and video artist Yvonne Osei describes herself as a trans-media artist.

“It’s basically using mediums in a diverse way to inform each other, so I can start from a photograph, and it would end up being a garment, and that garment will end up being a performance,” Osei said.

Every photograph in Osei’s repertoire is an extension of a performance that has taken place.

Osei’s talent and artistic vision made her the 2018 St. Louis Visionary Awards Emerging Artist, and her list of accolades doesn’t end there.

Osei attended Webster University and pursued dual degrees in graphic design and international studies. She continued on to earn an MFA in visual arts at Washington University in St. Louis, and is currently pursuing a masters in fashion design and business at Lindenwood. She completed the 2016-17 Romare Bearden Graduate Minority Fellowship at the Saint Louis Art Museum and is currently the curator in residence at COCA.

Osei is an artist with a desire to learn about life, while celebrating diversity and culture.

Her last exhibit at the Bruno David Gallery, Who Discovers the Discoverer?, exposed the influence of Western education on a West-African psyche.

“For me it’s about being open to ‘otherness,’” Osei said. “Being open to engage someone that’s ‘other’ than you.”

Osei is a visionary who hopes to bring change, and she is just getting started.

“I just want to be someone who impacts lives for the better,” Osei said. “The work must make people think critically about their day to day lives. It’s more so about service. Art must extend oneself.”