About MINA
MINA (Wilhelmina Quaynor) Founder and Creative Director of Mina's Art Space, is a Ghanaian-born contemporary landscape and heritage artist based in London, United Kingdom.
She graduated with a BA (Hons) in Fine Art from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana, in 1988. Shortly after graduating, she exhibited widely in Ghana and won first prize in the national art exhibition Save the Seashore Birds in 1989, with the winning work later acquired by the French Embassy.
After relocating to the United Kingdom and building a professional career as an Employment Coach and Career Adviser, MINA returned to painting in 2021 while living in New Delhi, India. She studied at the Delhi Collage of Art, graduating with a Super Professional Fine Art Diploma in 2022.
Her recent works focus on heritage architecture, landscapes, and monuments inspired by India, the Middle East, Africa, and global cultural landmarks. Working primarily in acrylic and oils using both brush and palette knife techniques, MINA is known for her atmospheric use of light, colour, reflections, and architectural storytelling. Many of her paintings explore the relationship between history and the present moment — a theme reflected in her artistic philosophy:
"Time Past Reflected in Time Present."
All paintings are from real life experiences of the locations in her collections.
MINA has exhibited in Ghana, India, Dubai and Venice, participating in solo and group exhibitions including Incredible India I, Incredible India II, World Art Dubai, Lalit Kala Academy's Collage Art Carnival, and international exhibitions in Venice. Her work has received media coverage in The Morning Standard, Citizen Times, Impressive Times, Hindustan Times Delhi Junction, and other international publications.
MINA has displayed and sold works at Artist Alliance Gallery in Ghana. She is also a member of Women’s Artists Institute Africa, reflecting her continued engagement with contemporary African artistic dialogue and cultural heritage.
She continues to expand her growing heritage collections through Mina's Art Space while undertaking selected commissioned works and future exhibition projects.
Artist Statement
My work explores the relationship between heritage, memory, architecture, and light. I am inspired by the way monuments and landscapes continue to carry the spirit of history into the present day.
Through acrylic painting, I aim to capture not only the physical beauty of a place, but also its atmosphere, emotion, and cultural significance. Many of my works are influenced by my experiences in India, the Middle East, Africa, and other international locations where architecture and landscape exist as living records of time.
I am particularly drawn to reflections, sunlight, water, and changing skies, using colour and luminosity to create a sense of serenity, wonder, and timelessness. More recently, I have developed a visual language incorporating national colours and symbolic skies to express identity, pride, and cultural continuity.
At the heart of my practice is the belief that, despite the challenges of modern life, there is always space to pause and appreciate beauty, history, and human creativity through a fresh pair of eyes.
"Time Past Reflected in Time Present."
