Micah Johnson. Micah is a self-taught figurative artist who uses strong gestural lines combined with loose brush strokes to create dramatic portraits primarily featuring African-American children. These subjects, which are often inspired by his young nephews, began appearing in Micah’s work ever since he overheard his 4-year old nephew ask, “can astronauts be black?”. After seeing the overwhelming response to his paintings, Micah realized he needed to expand this message to reach a broader demographic and he created an animated character named Aku. What sets Aku apart is his freedom and confidence, his openness to people of all kinds of people and, his desire to help.