Farmer 1998

Curator: Standing before us is "Farmer" by Rosemary Karuga, created in 1998. It's a striking mixed-media collage, primarily composed of paper. What’s your immediate reaction? Editor: Well, it strikes me as wonderfully earnest. There's a directness, almost a naivete, in the way the figure is rendered. And it also has a dreamlike quality, maybe from the use of text as background? It's charmingly unsettling. Curator: Earnest is a good word. Karuga had an incredible journey as an artist, initially training as a teacher, and then decades later diving headfirst into art. This piece really captures that folk-art simplicity while employing complex, layered techniques. Editor: Precisely! Notice how the artist uses collage to create texture and pattern? The shirt, for example, has blue stripes, while the farmer’s trousers seem like an old photo album. It creates such a fascinating dialogue between form and content. Karuga transforms what is commonly read into elements with formal value. Curator: Karuga re-imagines everyday objects into art. You get this real sense of resourcefulness and playfulness. Editor: It reminds us that anything, even scraps, can become something beautiful and profound when seen through the eyes of an artist. Curator: The "ground" created beneath him also provides depth; Karuga doesn’t hide or pretend there is infinite background, and rather she acknowledges where her space begins. Editor: I love that observation! It's the self-aware rawness that provides the image an authentic narrative. Curator: And for Karuga, who began her artistic career later in life, what better place to explore than the world around her! Editor: It's a testament to how looking and making, combined with the spirit, really does liberate. It makes me excited to observe more carefully!