Chemu Ng'ok

Yearning, 2023

As part of her 2023 Goodman Gallery London exhibition, the work series reflects and mediates on psychological and physical transitions, in both form and content. The spirals try to transcend upwards yet not quite reaching their destinations. She uses surreal and fleshy tones that articulate the artwork’s title. Abstract bodies in a constant state of flux emerge and multiply across the length and breadth of the canvases. These forms interrogate tensions in contemporary politics in Kenya and wider Africa. This amalgamation of the singular and communal has been an approach Ng’ok has used throughout her practice to push against authority, systemic violence and the long-standing legacy of colonialism.