Christine Karuma is presenting new work in an open studio that explores vulnerability, intimacy, and sexuality.
Running from September 19 to October 3 at Kobo Trust on Riara Road, Nairobi, it brings together works that she has created throughout the year, such as pieces influenced by a residency at Afriart Gallery in Kampala, Uganda.
Karuma has been working at Kobo since last year but says that the residency introduced her to new ways of working and led her to experiment with collage, a medium she had not previously incorporated into her work.
She produced two collage pieces during the residency, Playtime 1 and Playtime 2. It started as experiments, and the works turned into the starting point for much of what she has explored this year.
Her work examines those moments when people feel comfortable enough to be themselves without having to regulate or censor their emotions.
Karuma explains that intimacy exists in physical connection, freedom, vulnerability and playfulness that can come up between people. In addition to acrylic painting, she has been experimenting with image transfers, collage and relief sculpture using plaster of Paris and leather.
The open studio will showcase between 23 and 25 pieces, together with sketches and other stages of her creative process. Unlike a conventional gallery exhibition, where viewers generally encounter completed and framed works, she wants visitors to see how the pieces develop.
“Most of the time, gallery exhibitions are usually presented in their final form. With the open studio, you get to see the process,” she says.
Some of the works will be framed while others will be unfinished or unframed, giving visitors a glimpse into what happens inside her studio.
The works form a connected series centred on the body, relationships and intimacy. Some paintings portray solitary figures and explore vulnerability as a form of communion with the self. Karuma is interested in accepting the different parts of oneself, including both happiness and sadness. Other works explore vulnerability through romantic relationships.
“My collage pieces look at play as a form of intimacy and freedom. One was inspired by a light-hearted experience with someone when they used swings they had never played on as children. It is about intimacy as play and freedom,” she says.
The paintings incorporating image transfers explore the range of emotions, including love, suppression, giving and receiving.
Her leather sculptures represent the female body, its nakedness and its imperfections. Features such as stretch marks are part of the exploration of how the body is viewed and accepted.
While she is primarily a painter, she is bringing collage and image transfer into her work. Her collage pieces depict expansive landscapes and blue skies, while the paintings incorporating image transfers place figures against abstract backgrounds.
“I use distorted human figures to communicate how my subjects are feeling or what they may be experiencing. I also use colour to convey emotions,” she says.
Recently, she has been drawn to brown, which she describes as an earthy colour, as well as bright yellow, which represents joy, peace and playfulness. Vulnerability, she says, is not necessarily about sadness or fear; it can also create room for joy and play.
Working alongside other artists at Kobo Trust has exposed her to different approaches and perspectives while providing a safe and dynamic environment for her practice.
Through the open studio, she hopes to create conversations around her creative process while encouraging visitors to engage with ideas of intimacy and vulnerability. More importantly, she sees the event as a challenge to herself and a step towards a solo exhibition. After the open studio, she plans to conduct further research and collect data.