Lot 46

Michael Wafula (Kenyan, born 1972)
Feeling Blue, 2023
Signed ‘Michael Wafula 23’ (lower left)
Acrylic on satin vinyl mounted on board
84 x 84.5 cm
KES 200,000 – 300,000
(US$) 1,550 – 2,400
Provenance: From the artist’s collection.

Michael Wafula uses the texture of painting to consider the textural fabric of society. Coloured layers are dented and cracked, revealing evidence of a harsh environment.

After receiving a diploma in Painting and Graphic Design from the Creative Art Centre Nairobi, in 1992, Wafula joined the Kuona Trust Museum Art Studios. Alongside his own practice, in 2007 Wafula founded the Kijiji Art Studio where he runs youth and community art training, and he has recently opened a new art centre in his rural home of Kakamega.

Wafula’s sensual and critical abstract paintings have been exhibited in Kenya and abroad, including in Tanzania, Spain, Italy, China and the USA.