Artist Ngene Mwaura who is back in Kenya after living in the US for more than 10 years. Below: An artwork named 'The Guardian and the Vine' in 'black angels have red wings'. PHOTO | MARGARETTA wa GACHERU
In nearly all the paintings in ‘Reclamation,’ one will find Ngene’s multi-layered concept of an African mask. His mother’s ‘portrait’ is no exception except that he includes a kind of torso in her painting as well as symbolic features of her busy rural life.
Yet, if Ngene currently has a passion for African masks, be assured that his are anything but traditional (or ‘tribal’). Instead, they are delicately detailed, multicolored, multi-patterned, and nearly symmetrical in his usage of colours, designs, patterns, and facial features.
Most of Ngene’s paintings that were in the Art Space show are similar to ones he sent to Kenya from the US just over a year ago for an exhibition held by Carol Lees at the at One Off Gallery.
Coming home to Kenya after living abroad for more than a decade (studying, working and painting full-time) was Ngene Mwaura’s choice.
Yet it hasn’t been easy as the artist revealed recently during an ‘Artist Talk’ on the last day of the first solo exhibition that he has had since returning from Los Angeles, US, where he has worked both as a graphic designer (creating everything from music album jackets to book illustrations) and a full-time artist.
