Unveiling the Soul

Reminiscent of the harrowing work of Francisco de Goya, Beatrice Wanjiku’s recent art offers an intimate image of the grief, pain and mania inherent to the human condition.Strangeness of my Madness, Dark Thoughts in the Dead of Night, and Sentiment of the Flesh are names that reflect the exciting and heavily emotive connection to her work. Using bold and dark colours, intimate postures and positions, layering and texture, and a unique and macabre perspective, Wanjiku disregards subtlety andbears her soul and the soul of the darkest parts of our humanity in her work.She is known for paintings that deal with transition, and like all great artists her work is a compelling artistic examination of birth, life and death.

One of the few female artists from Kenya to gain global recognition, Beatrice Wanjiku Njoroge is an internationally lauded artist born in 1978. With solo exhibitions at OneOff Contemporary Gallery, Le Rustique and Kuona Trust in Kenya; as well as international exhibitions in London, The Netherlands, and in the U.S.,Wanjiku has cemented her position as a leading figure in the East African art scene. For those who missed the exhibition at Circle Art Gallery called Paper last month, know that her work maintains a startling harshness and honesty that has turned her into one of the worlds celebrated talents.

Edgar Allan Poe explains that the role of an artist is ‘the reproduction of what the Senses perceive in Nature through the veil of the soul.’ After exposure to her work Beatrice Wanjiku ‘s purpose seems to be as she says to “explore the notion of the self through the perception of the other.”

For more info on this expressive artist visit her blog at http:\\mylifeuntitled-bea.blogspot.com
By Ondi Madete