Wawi Amasha

Kenya Mon 19-01-2009

Wawi Amasha
By a Correspondent

Wawi Amasha aka Cynthia Grace Wawira Ndwiga is among an emerging generation of Kenyan artists working and living in the Diaspora.

With a professional career spanning a couple of years now, the artist draws inspiration from childhood experiences. She was raised by her grandmother in a small village in Embu district, about 220 miles from Nairobi, Kenya .

The most distinct memories are of seeing women all around her – an influence depicted in many of her paintings wherein female figures stand out. “As a young girl growing up in the village, I loved to create things. Back then, we did not have toys of any kind, but I'd improvise with indigenous materials.

I used these to make dolls, and all sorts of child-like things to play with”, says Wawi.

While in primary school, basic arts and crafts lessons required pupils to be creative. They would make paper kites, banana fiber art, curved animals, molding clay into pots, musical instruments and other varied artifacts. “But personally, I realized that art stretches beyond merely drawing or playing with colours.

Whenever I got home from school, Grandma would leaf through my books to see the notes taken in class. She would get so mad at me because most pages were filling up with drawings of people, flowers or animals”, she recalls.

When not at school or doing household chores, Wawi also collected different leaves and flowers. She would then grind them with a rock and use the different shades to colour her drawings as she whiled her time away.

Presently, her artistic talent has blossomed so much that themes in her work mirrors varied aspects of Kenyan culture.

A keen study of her paintings reveals a seemingly deliberate lack of facial features on her subjects. She says: “This is a technique meant to portray the faceless nature of African people as viewed by the rest of the world".

But more importantly, she seeks to create art that will inspire people to love and be kind to one another. “The world is filled with so much pain and suffering, and I believe that Art is supposed to slightly heal us", asserts Wawi

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JACKIE WANJIRA: wE ALL DISCOVER THE POWER OF ART AND COLORS THROUTH YOUR WORL. I'M SPECIALLY PROUD OF YOU WAWI. KEEP WORKING HARD CAUSE IT SEEMS YOUR MISSION IS REALLY TO MAKE THE PRESENT WORLD SLIGHTLY BETTER. HONGERA SANA DADA

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