Solo Exhibition of Naomi Wanjiku Gakunga
0ctober Gallery, 2013
Born in 1960, Naomi Wanjiku Gakunga grew up among the Kikuyu people of Kenya. She first studied art at the University of Nairobi, Kenya before continuing her studies at UCLA, USA. She now lives and works in San Antonio, Texas. Her work has been displayed and is in collections internationally. In 2021 she won the Charles Wollaston Award at the Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London.
The works in this exhibition were predominantly wall-hanging sculptures ingeniously created using traditional fibre art techniques from tin cans, steel wire and oxidised sheet metal forms. These materials all follow the concept of Jua Kali, a Swahili expression literally meaning ‘under the hot sun’ that refers to the idea of chance effects created out of things which have been discarded. Mabati (galvanised sheet metal) is ubiquitous in Kenya and used mainly for roofing materials and walls. It is particularly associated with the Mabati Women Groups and their empowering community housing projects of the ‘60s. Using various metaphors to acknowledge her heritage, Wanjiku Gakunga’s sculptures explore the connections between the past and the present, between tradition and modernity and between the older generations and their contemporary descendants.
