Artist Mensah Bey of Norfolk seeks through his paintings to express the connection between the physical world and the digital world. He views the virtual world as “an evolutionary subconscious that bridges our imaginations with the physical world.” The elongated, curved necks he paints for his subjects represent the traveling of the mind and ideas through the different spheres. He calls them Ajents.

“It’s how we connect with each other and represent ourselves,” said Bey during a recent interview in Gloucester, where he was staying as Arts on Main’s most recent artist-in-residence.

Sponsored by the Cook Foundation, the residency program provides chosen artists in any medium with the opportunity to spend an extended period of time working on their art in a secluded, bucolic area of Gloucester. The only requirement is that the artist produce some works that are representative of the county.

For one representative piece, Bey chose to interview and paint Kelsick Specialty Market owner Paige Drewry. He said he felt she “embodied some of the experience of Gloucester,” and that he wanted to “capture some of her elated energy.”

The title of the acrylic piece is “Paige Drewry at Kelsick.” He documented the process of creating the painting and will create a video that will be shared with Arts on Main.

Bey said he also created a series of abstract landscapes inspired by Gloucester.

Bey said he uses African Adinkra symbols in many of his paintings, and names each piece after whatever symbol he used, plus his term Ajent and a description of what’s occurring in the painting. He coined the term Ajent to honor a deceased friend whose initials were AJE. One painting he completed during his residency, “Duafe Ajent with a Glass of Wine,” was of his girlfriend, Elisa Summiel. The term Duafe is the African Adinkra symbol for feminine beauty, said Bey.

The symbol is superimposed on Summiel’s face.

The child of a father who is an artist and a mother who is a dancer, Bey has been an artist himself since grade school. After graduating from high school, he attended Hampton University on the advice of one of his art teachers and graduated in 2015 with a bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design. He went on to earn a graduate degree in Visual Studies at Norfolk State University and began doing murals and other public art and exhibiting at galleries in Norfolk and throughout Hampton Roads. He worked at the Chrysler Museum and is now serving as an adjunct professor at NSU, teaching basic drawing and printmaking.

The pieces Bey created during his residency are on display at Arts on Main through August. The gallery is currently open to visitors for 45-minute viewing slots, with masks required and a limitation on the number of guests allowed at one time. Also on display is the exhibit “Animalia,” featuring works by Katherine Maloney and Ryan Lytle.

For more information, visit gloucesterarts.org or call 804-824-9464.