A wash of colour spreads across the paper, followed by fine ink lines that bring familiar cultural details to life. The resulting scenes appear caught between nostalgia and an imagined future, offering a fresh perspective on Kenyan life through the eyes of visual artist Joyce Kuria.
Working with watercolour and ink, the Nairobi-based artist draws inspiration from local culture, memory and human relationships, blending recognisable African experiences with retro-futuristic imagination.
For Kuria, art is more than an exercise in aesthetics. It is a way of telling stories about identity, preserving memories and imagining what African experiences could look like in the future.
Her relationship with art began in high school, where studying art and design helped her realise that creativity could become a career. After secondary school, she pursued Fine Arts and Design at Kenyatta University before gaining practical experience in various Nairobi art studios and connecting with artists in the city's creative community.
“It's been quite the journey,” she says, reflecting on how her interest in art has developed over the years.
Today, she works as a full-time artist, specialising in watercolour and ink on paper. She is particularly drawn to watercolour for its fluidity and the freedom it offers, allowing colours to flow and blend without demanding perfection.
“I also find watercolour to be the easiest medium to work with,” she says.
Her creative process begins with sketches, which gradually develop into layered compositions. She then applies watercolour before adding fine details in ink. The technique creates a balance between expressive brushwork and precise illustration, with each piece carrying its own visual narrative.
Local culture, nostalgia and human relationships remain central to her inspiration. While she also draws from international artists, she is particularly interested in combining familiar African experiences with imagined futures.
“I'm inspired by local culture fused with a bit of retro-futurism,” she explains.
Through retro-futurism, Kuria explores how African identities and experiences might exist in worlds yet to come, without losing touch with the memories and traditions that shape them. This interplay between the familiar and the imagined has become a defining feature of her work.
Her artistic style has also evolved considerably since she began. The simpler illustrations of her early years have gradually given way to more detailed and confident compositions, a transformation she attributes to consistent practice.
She encourages emerging artists to remain committed to developing their skills, even when progress appears slow.
“You have to be constantly practising to perfect your craft. People appreciate progress. It may take a while, but they will notice,” she advises.
Rather than single out one painting as her most significant, Kuria values the different interpretations audiences bring to her work. While a painting may begin with an idea in her mind, its meaning can expand through the experiences of those who encounter it.
“I love it when people choose to share their stories with me. They make me see my work from a different perspective,” she says.
That connection with audiences also shapes how she approaches the business of art. Selling original paintings through social media and exhibitions remains central to her practice, but she recognises that original pieces may be beyond the budgets of some admirers.
To make her work more accessible, she reproduces selected artworks on merchandise, allowing more people to engage with her creations in different forms.
“I always have to figure out how my art can reach everyone,” she says.
Despite her progress, Kuria says the art industry has presented its share of challenges. She describes it as male-dominated and says she has sometimes had to work harder to prove herself.
She is also uncomfortable with the tendency to introduce women in creative professions primarily through their gender, arguing that artists should be recognised for their work rather than labelled as female artists.
“Women in other careers don't get referred to, for example, as a ‘female accountant’ or a ‘female teacher’ while being interviewed,” she says.
Her recent participation in the House of Kuria exhibition at HÖF Gallery in Kibera provided another opportunity to showcase her work. The exhibition brought together her watercolour and ink pieces alongside artworks by members of her family, creating a platform for both individual expression and shared creativity.
Kuria is now working on a new collection, which she plans to unveil early next year. Beyond her immediate projects, she hopes to draw more people towards traditional art while continuing to explore themes of culture, identity and possibility.
Through watercolour and ink, she continues to reinterpret familiar fragments of Kenyan life, preserving their connection to the past while imagining what they could become in the future.