Margaret Otieno Perkin
Kenya, 1974
Person TypeIndividual
BiographyApril 28, 1974Maggie Otieno juggles her time between her career as a sculptor and Programs Manager at AfricanColours Ltd, an arts organization that promotes contemporary African art through creating an interactive platform and increasing the visibility and earning potential of artists. Maggie’s career as a sculptor spans 12 years. The artist’s medium of work is mainly wood, stone and metal. Her themes vary from figurative to total abstraction. Her latest works entitled ‘Elders’ are the final sculptures in a series that began in 2004 during her solo exhibition at the National Museums of Kenya gallery. Maggie has participated in several exhibitions and workshops in Kenya, South Africa, Ethiopia, UK, USA, and The Netherlands. “My Elders series have exhaustively been done in stone, metal and finally in wood. The Elders are my way of conversing with my medium. Within these three-dimensional works are intent faces with profound expressions - one wonders if they seek to engage the observer in this anonymous conversation. The Elders, ‘Wazee’ in Swahili, are grouped in such a way they seem to empathize with each other, intently agreeing, or disagreeing, others plainly without concern. The different types of wood spell out the different characters of these Wazees. As he examines them, the observer becomes a component of this group of faces seeking to engage in this silent conversation. The Wazees are inspired by my desire to immortalize the elderly in the community. The African cities are very harsh to their elderly grey haired people, confining them to the villages, allowing them no access to the fast developing world. Therefore my work seeks to immortalize their presence in a world where they have neither influence nor advantage.”
