The phrase “your work is out of this world” will, henceforth, no longer be a figurative expression to celebrated Ghanaian contemporary artist Amoako Boafo as his works are, as of this morning, indeed out of our world as we know it.

Recall that Aworanka had reported in July that Uplift Aerospace, an aerospace company specializing in “technologies for a multi-planetary economy” has commissioned the 37-year-old Ghanaian figurative painter to create a triptych on one of Amazon boss Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin rockets. 

The "Suborbital Triptych", as the artwork is known, is a three-panel painting that was intentioned to fly into space on the outside of Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket, a reusable suborbital rocket.

The much anticipated never-before-done feat eventually happened this morning as the three paintings -- Self Portrait with Pink Tulips (2021), Shormeh’s Gold Earrings (2021), and Gold Head Wrap (2021) -- made by the artist for the suborbital rocket lifted off into space.

The three paintings stylistically called the Suborbital Triptych adorn the three parachute panels on the spaceship. The first painting is a self-portrait of Boafo while the other two are portraits of his mother and of his childhood friend, Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe, who is also an artist.

“A self-portrait looking up to the skies best explains what this project means to me. I grew up knowing the sky was the limit and now I get to work on a project that goes beyond the sky as we know it,” Boafo said in a statement. “This signifies what is possible when creatives like myself are given the chance to not only break the glass ceiling but go above it.”

Elaborating on the tensile strength of the materials he used to ensure the durability and persistence of the paintings in an out-of-Earth environment, Boafo stated that he had to use special materials to ensure the artwork would survive its short journey into space and not burn up during its re-entry into the atmosphere.

“The paint had an unusually strong smell, so I wore a nose mask the entire time during production. It was watery, so the panels had to be laid flat on the table to avoid unwanted marks. As it dried so fast, I had to work quickly to avoid it drying before the painting was done,” he added.

According to a report by the Associated Press, the unmanned rocket lifted off earlier this morning at the Blue Origin launch facility near Van Horn in West Texas. The ten-minute flight will have the paintings detached from the capsule as the parachutes are deployed, and they will be recovered on the desert floor.

“I’m inspired by the idea that this incredible artwork will be lit by distant galaxies, with Earth as a backdrop,” Josh Hanes, Uplift Aerospace’s CEO, said in a statement. “I hope this will allow viewers a closer connection with the cosmos and the precious planet we call home.”

Boafo’s contemporary African art pieces are the first in technology company Uplift Aerospace’s new “Art x Space” program which is focused on sending commissioned works of art into space.

“We’re honored to fly Amoako’s works of art to space and back onboard New Shepard,” a representative for Blue Origin said in a statement. “His stunning portraits capture Black joy and the kind of shared future we hope to create for us all in space: vibrant, beautiful, and full of wonder.”