Before the residency and solo exhibition with Kamene Cultural Centre, Kenyan artist Njenga Ngugi went through a difficult artist block for one year. Until he met Kaloki Nyamai, he was creating but not bringing ideas to fruition. His body of work and train of thought were scattered. A lot of incomplete ideas and pieces. He acknowledges Kaloki Nyamai’s support and contribution to his progress.
Njenga took art seriously right from high school. He met Kaloki Nyamai two years ago through Kenyan artist Paul Njihia, a member of the Seven Artist Collective at Kobo Trust, Nairobi, whom he met through one of the exhibitions he attended, something he was introduced to by Brush Tu Artist Collective members, specifically Kenyan artist Peteros Ndunde.
“I’m grateful to Kaloki for opening the door to me. I don’t take the support lightly; it gave me a voice and a platform to showcase my work to a broader audience, and also a chance to experience his work and studio routine. I enjoyed the freedom and learned how to build a complete body of work from inception to execution of my ideas. That’s a unique element with artist-led programs, it’s only an artist who can understand a fellow artist’s journey and offer support with minimal expectations, and find something significant in the ideas,” explains Ngugi who adds that he is even more motivated to dive deeper into his creative process, explore more ideas. He’s also open to gallery representation and more opportunities to showcase and share his experience and work. Through a one-month residency program offered by Kaloki Nyamai’s Kamene Cultural Centre, he got to build up the whole body of work and bring the idea behind his solo show to fruition.
Speaking to Tewasart Africa, Kamene Cultural Centre’s current gallery and studio manager Jeanne Onkoba, shares about the role Kamene is playing in shaping the future of Nairobi’s contemporary art scene and its expansion plans. She describes Kamene as a stepping stone for young and emerging artists like Ngugi, offering them a platform to explore multidimensional concepts and provide space to showcase their work to a broader audience. Also, through a mentorship program, Kamene fosters connections between young emerging artists and more experienced artists. It’s tailored to offer two residency opportunities a year, and the duration per residency is one month, which ends with a one-month exhibition.
“Kamene Art Centre is an independent, self-funded organization offering artists of African descent a residency opportunity to explore contemporary narratives that align with our vision. We encourage featured artists to be authentic and free to explore multidimensional ideas. We are growing and building partnerships with independent curators, galleries, artists, and any other relevant players in the contemporary African art scene to collaborate and make the space sustainable. Our exhibition program and arrangement with the resident artist are non-binding and flexible; the artists can seek representation or join other platforms to promote their work. The basis is for the artist to be authentic and grow, and provide support in the growth phases,” she explains.
In his solo exhibition, Dark Clouds Bring Waters, Ngugi intended to share his journey of truth in a very personal body of work that dives into the unconscious. The exhibition opened on 03 May and ended on 31 May at Kamene Cultural and Research Center, located at Santack Estate, along Ngong Road, Nairobi.
In the artist statement, “Dark clouds bring waters is a body of work that dives into the unconscious – a space where hidden truths and unspoken fears take shape. It is an invitation to confront the darkness within, not to erase it but to understand it. I explore themes of vulnerability, uncertainty, and self-reckoning, drawing from personal experiences while leaving room for the viewer’s interpretation.
My approach is intuitive; I start with chaos and through the process of layering, erasing, and reworking, the piece finds its own balance. I am always in conversation with the work, responding rather than dictating, allowing it to emerge as it needs to.”
Njenga was looking for any sign of hope, and he found it in the darkest places that he feared to look at. Through his experience, accepting the truth reveals who we are. The idea behind the body of work exhibited began last year (2024), around February, then later he used part of the work to apply for the residency program. He intended to create work that was personal and resonated with his reality.
“The whole exhibition is my pursuit of truth, and you can’t approach truth with a fearful mindset, worried about other people’s opinions. Diving into the unconscious, the work is very deep and personal,” he narrates.
Njenga works primarily with dry and wet mediums; ink, pastel, and charcoal to create a blend of surrealism and abstraction with meticulous detail and biomorphic forms, blending organic shapes with dreamlike, unconscious imagery. “Red, black, yellow, and purple have always been a colour combination I’ve always wanted to explore, and it resonated with me at that time. So I followed my intuition. It’s like a calling. In many ways, it’s intentional, but it’s me pursuing the truth. So those are the colours I resonated with while creating,” he explains his choice of colours.
During Njenga’s pursuit of truth, he resonated with this quote, What you are looking for is where you least want to look, he felt that he had ignored the truth unconsciously. The Will was his first piece. While creating this piece, he felt the sense of urgency to act and do something. Sometimes when we are confronted by a lot of truth, it’s painful and ugly, and we lack the will to do things. While going through the journey of truth, we experience a rebirth, reflect on our past, and our choices. For Njenga, he dealt with regret; he felt he let some people down, and he didn’t maximise some of the opportunities he had access to. He was working, but not with a specific focus. He struggled with self-doubt, which was triggered mostly by distractions and listening to outside voices. He felt he was not looking for truth from the dark side of things’ perspective.
Using contrast, addition, and subtraction, Njenga draws his inspiration from his experiences and references his past and present images and surroundings. With an intuitive process, Njenga sees himself as an agent to complete the process. In earlier works, he referenced images he took, but when the series unfolded, he let go and relied mostly on his memory and intuition. “When we let go, our mind observes and adapts to the new process and pattern, and the ideas flow like a tap. It’s a communication between the mind and the mediums, ink, water, and bleach interaction,” he explains.
This process mirrors the idea of total surrender when perceiving truth. When we approach truth with an open mind and accept it and trust the process, there are no mistakes; everything is part of the process. When we accept the truth, we have to abandon every idea that outside voices have told us and go back to the best version of ourselves. This unlearning process is painful, and the reality that we were wrong the entire time can be hurtful.
The hands embody the artist, the people in his life, and influences. The idea of hands was introduced in his previous work and has developed over time. Currently, he draws the hands without referencing, from memory. In his earlier work, Njenga focused on self-portraits to explore themes of mental health, growth, and identity as a response to the insecurities he was dealing with at that time. He felt vulnerable, and he had exposed himself too much, so he used his hands for protection. He later realised that there are more ways to use our hands, like telling stories, making gestures, reacting, and communicating.
In Walk on Water the artist focuses on another perspective of truth, acceptance of truth. When we accept your truth, we realize that as much as we are going through pain, we are stronger than we thought. We expected to fall or drown, but we still stayed afloat. When we are in survival mode, we are confronted with all, and we are required to kill all versions of us, and this is a representation of who we thought we were, probably the ego.
“The hands, the feet, and the horse came naturally and were all drawn from memory, and it was my first time drawing a horse. I was trying to capture the emotion and the intention behind the piece. My work and creative process is a diary entry, and it’s like exploring the unconscious, like a dream; it’s an act of faith with no guarantee of answers or solutions. Each piece had a personal meaning to me,” he concludes.
BIO
Njenga Ngugi is a Kenyan artist born in 1996 and based in Nairobi. His work is a profound exploration of the human psyche, examining the myriad actions, thoughts, dreams, and emotions that shape our existence. Through his art, Njenga embraces imperfection and chaos, navigating uncertainty as an integral part of the creative process.
Njenga works primarily with ink, pastel, and charcoal to create a blend of surrealism and abstraction with meticulous detail and biomorphic forms, blending organic shapes with dreamlike, unconscious imagery. His work invites viewers to engage with the depths of human emotion and explore themes such as individuation, mental struggle, identity, growth, and resilience.
Since 2017, Njengas work has been featured in the Kenyan Arts diary 2025 exhibited in numerous shows, including the Kenya Art Fair (2017), Nairobi National Museum Affordable Art Show (2017), pop-up at Kito Gallery (2018), Phases at Kito Gallery (2019), A Bad Idea exhibition (group show) at Nafasi Art Gallery (2019), Shadows (group show) at Brush-tu Art Studio (2022), and Hidden Treasures at Gravitart (2024).
