mojatu .com
32 Arts & Culture
Dickens Otieno explains his
methods which he says were
developed from his mother’s
traditional technique of weaving
palm leaves - Finding meaning in
things that seem otherwise useless
is what interests me most and this
coupled by the push to keep our
planet green has influenced me to
create my works by recycling used
materials. Am a 33 year old Kenyan
artist (sculptor and painter) at The
GoDown Art Center. I currently work
in recycled material majorly light
beer or soft drink cans (foils) which
I shred and weave through coffee
wire into big fabrics which I in turn
use in making dress sculptures.I
have been inspired to make dresses
coy they have been used by others
to judge us and also by the fact
we have used them to mask our
weakness i.e spending a lot of time
on choosing what to wear to look
in a particular way. These cans are
most suitable for my sculptures for
their lightweight and ability to fold
easily (they feel much like palm
leaves which have been used by
many generations to weave). They
are also readily available in many
colors which kind of inspired me as
I was walking and came across an
empty can one day after struggle
to do the same with bottle tops
which wasn’t giving me desirable
results. My work also contribute
to environmental cleanliness and
SEE
HERE
Visual Art at old Neale’s Auction House,
Mansfield Road, Nottingham.
Running from June 14th – July 13th 2018.
Included Artists
Beverley Bennett
Matt Chesney
Shehzad Chowdhury
Thiebault Delferiere
Trudi Entwistle
Sardul Gill
Paul Harraway
Andrew Harris
Carole Hawthorne
Katja Hock
Jim Jack
www.quarrylab.org
Bill Ming
Nadia Ming
Mwini Mutuku
Dickens Otieno
Demi Overton
Josie Perry
Richard Perry
Roy Pickering
Mark Rawlinson
Gurminder Sikand
@Quarry Notts
ERANDA
ROTHCHILD
FOUNDATION
Mojatu
Foundation
The Bakehouse
waste resource management which
has attracted local media such
as KBC through the programme
vijana in action, KTN’s bongo la
biashara amongst others to inspire
viewers across the country. I have
participated in various exhibitions
among them manjano where I was
awarded with a 1 st runners up prize
in 2011, an exhibition in support
of KCCL (Kenya Community Centre
for Learning), a village public art
competition where I won a first five
prize 2012,a charitable exhibition
to raise funds for hunger stricken
northern Kenya by the village
market in 2012,an evening with
art by the little art gallery etc. This
weaving technique also led to
my participation in a workshop
Bamcraft organized by KEFRI and
UNIDO aimed at designing and
developing new bamboo products
to help internally displaced persons
from mau forest sustain their living.
In 2013 I went for a residensy at
Nafasi Art Space in Tanzania for an
art exchange Programme between
Nafasi Art Space and Kuona Trust.
I have a few pieces in private
collection and some in art galleries
such as One Off Art Gallery, Little
Art Gallery and The GoDown Art
Center where I work from.