Lot 35

Gakunju Kaigwa (Kenyan, born 1958)
Chai Motto, 1990
Signed ‘B.G KAIGWA 1990’ (bottom left of sculpture)
Kisii Soapstone
33.5 x 25.5 x 38.2 cm
US$ 3,000 – 4,000
Provenance: acquired direct from the artist by the current owner in 1992
Sold US$ 7,748

Gakunju Kaigwa is an established Kenyan sculptor who has become known for his masterful handling of material, eloquently working in wood, glass, steel, bronze, granite and marble.
Kaigwa graduated from Kenyatta University, Nairobi with a BEd in Fine Art. He received a scholarship in 1988 to go to Italy to study in Carrara, a town world-famous for its high quality marble stone. In 1993 he completed an MFA in Public Art from the University of Dundee. He was then accepted by the Apprenticeship Programme at the Johnson Atelier Technical Institute of Sculpture in New Jersey, where he worked in the foundry and learnt to cast metal.

Working in the USA for several years, and attending numerous international workshops, Kaigwa returned to Kenya in 2003 and took a studio at Kuona Trust Centre for Visual Arts from where he works on public and private commissions.