By
Margaretta wa Gacheru (Posted September 8, 2017)
Kenyan
artist Mary Collis has kept a relatively low profile since she and Carol Lees
closed Rahimtulla Modern Art Museum (RaMoMa) which they’d cofounded back in
2000.
But that’s
not to say her creativity died. On the contrary, over the past year alone, Mary’s put
all her artistic energies into designing and rebuilding the flat she recently
moved to in Westlands with her husband Alan.
The view from Mary's dining room (the glass tabletop has one of her hand-blown glass sculptures). The view looks out onto her sitting room, her balcony (left), her breakfast bar (right) and her colorful paintings on two walls on the right. Floors are solid wood and ceiling has receded LED lights. Photos by Mary Collis
It’s as if
she created a miniature RaMoMa in her new home high atop her One West skyscraper
flat. For even before you reach her front door, you can see Theresa Musoke’s
circular sculpture inviting you to come in. You’ll also see the solid wood
sculpted hippo standing guard, like a sentinel keeping watch over the artist
and her spouse (who also manages the Rahimtulla Trust).
But from the
moment you step inside her new home, you can’t help being struck by the
modernity of its elegant, minimalist style.
Mary designed the décor of her One West flat, which is suffused with light and featuring Mary's paintings and glass sculptures. She also designed the 'stretched' bookcase.
Mary designed the décor of her One West flat, which is suffused with light and featuring Mary's paintings and glass sculptures. She also designed the 'stretched' bookcase.
What’s so
bedazzling is the entire décor: everything from the pearly-white high ceilings filled
with recessed LED lighting to the solid wood panel floors to the living room,
dining room and breakfast bar tastefully arranged in one large rectangular
room.
Then just
beyond the living room (which has a Jutte Gavida multi-texture ottoman as its attractive
center piece) there are floor-to-ceiling glass sliding doors which lead your
eyes out to a beautiful view of Mount Kenya (on a clear day) and Karura Forest
(now hidden somewhat behind the ever-increasing skyscrapers) and a balcony
where there’s cozy seating for two.
Jutte Gavida's designed Ottoman sits in the center of Mary's living room. See the new canonic book, Visual Voices which features Mary among 56 other outstanding Kenyan artists.
Jutte Gavida's designed Ottoman sits in the center of Mary's living room. See the new canonic book, Visual Voices which features Mary among 56 other outstanding Kenyan artists.
“Alan and I have
a cocktail out there every evening at dusk,” says Mary rather wistfully since
she can’t help being in awe of how much has changed since contractors initially
arrived at the flat and gutted it room by room.
Mary and Alan's view of Nairobi from their balcony. Photo by Mia Collis
“We had to
start over from scratch,” she adds, admitting that it’s taken many months and
assistance from a friend who helped her keep the contractors focused on
following Mary’s instructions.
“But the
design was all mine,” says the former interior designer-turned-abstract
expressionist painter whose artistic aptitude is apparent in every detail of
her four-bedroom flat [the fifth one got transformed into functional storage
space].
Mary’s mark
is most colorfully manifest on the walls and in her elongated wooden bookcase.
The walls are filled with her paintings, first seen upon entering her living
room where she shares visual space with her sister Gillian whose paintings hang
above some of the exquisite glass pieces that Mary made in a workshop at
Kitengela Hot Glass.
Her affinity
for glass is also apparent in the circular shape of her dining room table,
which is surrounded by multicolored heavy plastic chairs that she says
replicate the ultra-modern Carmel furniture.
Mary's affinity for glass evident in her glass doors that look out over Nairobi. Photo by Mia Collis
“Carmel’s
chairs run a thousand dollars apiece, but I got mine for KSh3,000 on Mombasa
Road,” she says, clearly pleased she could find such a bargain.
“Aren’t they
comfortable!” she adds affirmatively as we sit taking tea before she escorts me
from room to room, starting with a kitchen which also has another wall-to-wall
mark of Mary’s. This time it’s ‘wall paper’ printed with another one of her
cheerfully luminous paintings.
See the view from Mary's balcony. Here's her ultra-modern open kitchen, complete with 'wallpaper' made after Mary printed one of her colorful abstract paintings onto cloth which she then placed under glass so it fits on two kitchen walls.
Complete
with a big brand new fridge, gas cooker and plenty of marble-top working
surfaces, the kitchen has a pantry and annex in the next room where there’s a
convenient washer-dryer combo as well as the storage space.
Meanwhile, Mary
makes room for her fellow artists’ works as well as her own. They’re in the
corridors and computer room which doubles as an art library filled with books
about Monet and Modigliani, Rothko and Rembrandt, Kandinsky and Paul Klee.
Indeed, even
her bathrooms are filled with art by Kenyans, including James Mbuthia, Richard
Kimathi, Wanyu Brush and Morris Foit as well as her own award-winning
photographer daughter Mia and her sister Gillian.
But perhaps
the crowning glory of Mary’s interior design is in the bedrooms where each one
has a different color ‘coding,’ each featuring one of Mary’s meter-square abstract
paintings, the design of which is copied on cloth and reconfigured as bed
cushions and comfy upholstered chairs.
Mary's art fills every bedroom at her One West flat where one wall is covered in one of her paintings, which she replicated in the form of bed cushions. Her two orange studio chairs are also covered in cotton cloth printed after one of Mary's paintings.
“I still
have to finish decorating the bathrooms,” says Mary who adds there is one room
her flat lacks. And that’s space for her painter’s studio. Fortunately, she’s
created a new studio in a friend’s backyard where this exceptional artist can
get back to the business of creating contemporary art.
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