Naomi Wanjiku Gakunga — From Our Store

Born in 1960, Naomi Wanjiku Gakunga grew up among the Kikuyu people of Kenya. She 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. Her sculptural works are made from textured sheet metal and steel wire. A range of supplementary materials are occasionally incorporated in innovative ways. The works in sheet metal and woven wire combine traditional techniques with contemporary materials and processes. The galvanized sheet metal - known as mabati - is intertwined with Gakunga’s childhood memories, when grass thatch roofs on Kenyan homes were eventually replaced by mabati. Gakunga’s method involves carefully oxidizing rolls of sheet metal by submerging in water, occasionally adding dyes to produce a range of chromatic effects.

Gakunga studied and lectured in design at the University of Nairobi, Kenya, before continuing her graduate work at the University of California, Los Angeles. She has been included in exhibitions in the USA, UK, France, Brazil and Poland. In 2013, October Gallery presented her first solo exhibition Ituĩka - Transformation. In 2016, she was shortlisted for the Financial Times/Oppenheimer Funds Emerging Voices Awards and in 2017, her sculpture Mũgogo - The Crossing was exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts’ Summer Exhibition, London, UK.

In 2021 Naomi's work Wetereire – Waiting, won the prestigious Charles Wollaston Award at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition.