Maurice Mboa — The Joy Project

Continuing the Art of Play
May 6 + 13, 2026

Artist: Maurice Mboa

This will be 2-week project.

Join Zoom Meeting / Class
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87618016665

Maurice Mboa is a self-taught Geneva-based artist from Cameroon.

He reads the signs of life here and hereafter. His works reflect the shimmering boundary between souls and ourselves. For some years now, he has been expressing his very particular perception in a series he calls “âmes peintes” (painted souls). They are imprints, without real faces, like so many potential portraits. On metal plates used in the printing industry, he paints and engraves figures caught in foliage. In this way, he reconstitutes the crowd of those we have lost and those we do not yet know.

To Continue Reading: Artist Website

"Maurice Mboa creates faceless portraits in wild, natural landscapes. Instead of showing physical details, his works invite us to feel the inner spirit of his subjects."

Billy Tartour | opa projects

Warm-up + Project:

This week, we are going to challenge ourselves by creating faceless portraits surrounded and embraced by a natural setting, lush nature, leaves, vines, and growing plants.

How Will We Do That?

Idea Starter:

Select a photograph or image from a magazine or the internet.

Keep the image large and in a simple format.

We are essentially creating a negative space using a human form.

This will be the central part of your composition.

You may want to cut out the shape of the human picture you have selected and trace its outline on your paper or board to begin creating your composition.

Keep it simple - We are focusing a strong design element, mystery and the energy of Maurice Mboa’s paintings.

Words for Inspiration:

Spirit
Energy
Soul
Mystery
Design
Decorative Markings
Patterns
Color
Nature
Humanity
Beauty
Emotion
Tension

As we are not using the techniques of Mboa, etching, and painting on a steel plate, let’s get inventive and move into his design and emotional depiction of the human form in his work.

Materials to Consider: