BY Margaretta wa Gacheru (published BD Life 18.12.20)
Dickens
Otieno was meant to be an engineer, according to his father’s dream. But this
Kenyan sculptor has taken after his mother, a gifted, hard-working seamstress,
instead.
Dickens
studied engineering for a time at Kenya Polytechnic, but he gave it up to be a
full-time artist. Nonetheless, he’s found that study useful as he creates
sculptures requiring internal ‘engineering’ in the form of metal wire frames that
serve as skeletons to give his jackets, trousers and gowns the regal statuesque
stance that enhance the dignity of each design.
Currently,
having his first one-man exhibition at Circle Art Gallery, Dickens has balanced
his show between his shapely tapestries and his sculptures, some the size you
might want to try on, others, miniatures that might otherwise appeal to little
people. Either way, what’s most remarkable about his art is that he creates his
own ‘fabric’ by hand, out of aluminum (and occasionally laminated paper) which he
first shreds and then meticulously weaves into elegant garments or
floor-to-ceiling wall hangings.
Dickens’
tapestries might call to mind ones more monumentally made by the acclaimed West
African artist, El Anatsui, since both men work and weave in scrap metal. But
Dickens is no imitator. He’s been creating scrap metal ‘fabric’ for nearly two
decades, long before he’d ever heard of the Ghanaian artist.
There
are similarities between the two. But what makes Dickens’ art so special is the
precision with which he creates his metallic ‘threads’ and perfectly aligned
weaves. Having started his career with limited funds, he began by working with
materials most accessible to him, namely used beer and soda cans which are still
his basic tools of trade. It is these that he first flattens, then carefully
transforms into his sculptures and tapestries. For his paper sculpture, he also
recycles, using glossy magazines or newspapers which he first paints, then
laminates and finally slices into sturdy paper threads and weaves similarly to
what he does with his slender scrap metal ‘yarns’.
All the
works in his Circle Art show were created this year, specifically during the
lockdown when he either stayed close to home or worked some days in his studio at
the GoDown’s new artists’ studios in Kilimani. Having opened November 26th, Dickens’
show will run up to December 22nd.
In the
meantime, at the opening, Dickens admitted to one of his admirers that he
preferred creating formal wear, anything from ladies evening gowns to military
men’s uniforms. These were the sorts of clothes that he grew up watching him
mother make. She, like he, was meticulous about her creations. Pointing to the
sewing machine at the entrance of the exhibition, Dickens says he personally
never works with a sewing machine, despite his stitches invariably looking
straight and tailored. “The sewing machine was my mother’s. It’s here because I
think of this show as an installation dedicated to her,’ says the artist,
implying the machine is there to pay homage to her legacy.
Dickens’
mother passed on before she could see her son’s arts travel to exhibitions all
around the world, everywhere from Nottingham and Paris to Cape Town and Dubai.
In fact, Circle Art has enabled him to show his work at world-class Art Fairs
as well. At the same time, he’s been invited to art residencies in Lamu and Italy.
One of
Dickens’ pieces that l found most fascinating is a ‘triptych’ of three tall,
thin tapestries which he calls ‘skyscrapers’ since they hang side by side, each
with square open spaces carefully aligned. “No, they do not each stand alone,”
he tells BD Life. “They are one piece, but like skyscrapers in big cities, they
stand side by side.” The window cut-outs add interest to the piece that hangs
about seven feet from top to bottom.
In
recent times, all of Dickens’ tapestries have grown more monumental, especially
as his audiences have expressed interest in those that fill whole walls. Some
of them combine laminated woven paper squares or circles, which he’s stitched
inside his metallic fabrics. Others mix colors geometrically while there is two
that seem to tell stories with the shapeliness of his color contours.
Either
way, Dickens’ exhibition is a triumph for the artist whose humble beginnings, working
initially in Nairobi’s Industrial Area, hasn’t stopped him from pursuing the
work he loves best. What’s more, he’s carrying on a tradition established by
his mother, only making his art of stitching, weaving, and structuring a genre
all his own.
No comments:
Post a Comment