Naomi Wanjiku Gakunga: Tushauriane – Let’s Talk About It

October Gallery presents a new exhibition of works by Naomi Wanjiku Gakunga. This will be her second solo exhibition in London.Born in Kenya in1960, Naomi Wanjiku Gakunga 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. Gakunga has been included in several exhibitions in the USA, UK, France, Brazil and Poland. Her UK debut solo exhibition, Ituĩka – Transformation, was presented at October Gallery in 2013. She was long-listed for the FT/Oppenheimer Funds Emerging Voices Awards, 2016.

Gakunga’s works are predominantly wall-hanging sculptures ingeniously created from tin cans, steel wire and oxidised sheet metal. While the techniques Gakunga uses are common to the fibre arts across many traditions, her chosen materials are not; corroded sheet metal, rusted tin cans and stainless steel wire all follow the concept of Jua Kali, a Swahili adage which translates literally as ‘under the hot sun’ and refers to the serendipitous outcomes born out of discarded and weathered materials. Here, nothing goes to waste and what is considered unwanted material becomes the medium for a new focus of attention.