Wangechi Mutu
Originally from Kenya, Wangechi Mutu completed her education in Wales and went on to study in the United States.
She now splits her time between her native country and the United States. Animal, plant and human kingdoms intertwine in her collages and watercolours, bringing forth phantasmagorical creatures through which Mutu invents a modern-day mythology—a post-colonial, environmentalist and feminist Olympus. Mutu’s body of work deals with the black female body, an object of desire and violence, and a space into which racial archetypes are projected. But by way of this body, she addresses humanity. “My personal belief is that deep inside, all humans know that our ancestors were black Africans. The connection to Africa is obvious, even if it is an instinctual, intuitive awareness,” she says.
