“Dark Clouds Bring Water” – Njenga Ngugi’s Surrealist Explorations at Kamene Cultural Centre

In his artist’s talk on Saturday, hosted by Joy Mala, Njenga Ngugi spoke of coming from a dark place and of finding a way through it. He shared his vulnerability, embodied on the walls in the series of works he has created through his residency period at Kamene Cultural Centre entitled “Dark Clouds Bring Waters”.

The works have a surrealist appearance, with deep darks next to the oranges and reds of fire, glowing light; layers seem to peel away in hyper-realistic trompe l’oeil; hands and feet emerge from the dreamscape, floating and disconnected from any whole body; and mythological figures morph with what can be read as either clouds or smoke.  

Walk on Water

Njenga describes this exhibition as a body of work that “dives into the unconscious, a space where hidden truths and unspoken fears take shape… an invitation to confront the darkness within…”

The works are chronologically presented in the exhibition, ordered on the wall in the same sequence in which they were created, each representing a phase of the journey that Njenga had lived and was working through. They embody his acceptance of dark situations and show the viewer a trail through ego to metaphorical death and rebirth. 

The process and the result are one of catharsis. Njenga began each work with no plan, no vision of the finished piece. He begins with ink and water, flowing across the paper, a contrast and fusion of wet and dry media. The materials shape his storytelling, although he is inspired by the old masters and by the dreamy aesthetic of rococo. 

Untitled

The intense black of the ink and charcoal imagery evokes burning and the notion of fire as transformative. Harking to the process of destruction in order to reach regenesis, Njenga evoked Nietzsche’s famous quote: 

And if you gaze long into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you”

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Although this quote has been interpreted as a warning of moral corruption, Njenga views it as a statement of deep self-relection, as a contemplation of things that are known and unknown to the gazer, as a part of shadow work. Njenga also references Jordan B. Peterson: “If you gaze into the abyss long enough, you see the light, not the darkness.”, suggesting that confronting the darkest aspects of reality, including one’s own fears and doubts, can ultimately lead to deeper understanding of one’s sense of meaning, using negativity as a catalyst for growth and transformation. As Njenga put it, “zooming out you see that life is a cycle; there  are things unknown and things that pull you to darkness, but also things that pull you to light.”

Cycles

This is an exhibition of the stages of catharsis in the emotinal excavations of an individual young artist, but the artworks invite the viewer to engage in their own self-exploration as they journey visually into the depths of these rich and multi-layered pieces. 

Njenga Ngugi’s “Dark Clouds Bring Waters” continues through Saturday 31 May at Kamene Cultural Centre, Santack Estate, off Ngong Rd.