Michael Robinson, Gleaner Writer

Artist Mazola

FOR MAZOLA Wa Mwashigadi, inviting people to his home studio is a traditional practice. A decade after moving to Jamaica, he will be hosting his first showing at the studio he calls Orange Circle. Named after his former studio in Nairobi, Orange Circle holds a special place for the artist.

"The space means a lot," says the Kenyan whose output consists of sculpture, painting, assemblage and furniture, "because that's where all the creation comes out."

The exhibition, which opens next Saturday and runs for a week, will feature recent works by the prolific artist, who has already made a name for himself on the local art scene with artists and collectors alike.

A former recipient of the Commonwealth Art and Craft Fellowship, Mazola was trained as an art teacher in his native Kenya and, besides Jamaica, has exhibited in places like Bangladesh, Italy, Antigua, the United Kingdom and the United States. Originally a painter, his fellowship saw him studying various aspects of sculpture, a discipline for which he has a natural affinity.

sculptural pieces

The man who came to Jamaica as a painter and collage artist soon found that his collage work evolved into sculptural pieces. "Maybe my future is in that," he muses. "When I do the assemblages and the sculptures, it is a ritual for me, because I'm building things, touching soil, using beads and going back to nature. It's very African to me."

Last summer, Port Antonio's Mockingbird Hill commissioned him to do three pieces for a new sculpture garden at the hotel. Mazola says his time working there and his experience with the workers on the grounds became inspiration for some of the pieces that will be part of the Orange Circle show.

"They had roasted breadfruit then they went into the bush and got a vegetable they called 'wild hog' and we ate," recalls the Kenyan, "but we had to eat in a banana leaf. That inspired one of the pieces where I have two eggs in a leaf. When I stayed at the hotel, they would serve two boiled eggs for breakfast.

"One time we were [outside] eating ackee and these guys were talking about Africa and going back and all these things, so I ended up seeing this leaf floating on water. It was a reflection of the Middle Passage. Because most of us who are here now, we came actually as eggs. So although it started out as a play with the egg and the leaf, it later transcended to the Middle Passage."

First Fruits, outdoor sculpture. - photos by Michael Robinson

different perspective

Mazola goes on to explain that his perspective is different because he didn't come here via the Middle Passage. For him, the story ended with the Middle Passage as his ancestors were taken away, never to be seen again. For him, this experience was allowing him to see what happened afterwards. "I see now," he continues, "what has happened after the middle passage. So I call the piece 'The Middle Passage and Beyond'."

Art is a spiritual journey for the African, whose great grandfather was a 'rainmaker'. His pieces inspire and are inspired by visions. Conceptually the work has layers upon layers of meanings, whether he is using watercolour or wood.

connecting with universal energy

For him, working is a way of going back home, going backward or forward in time and simply connecting with the universal energy which moves everything.

This invitation to the place where he gets in touch with his muse is as much a request to stop by a neighbour's house as it is an exhibition of art. In Kenya, when one goes visiting, it is traditional to bring something - a drink or something to be shared.

The host, too, shares something with his guests. With this artist's penchant for thought-provoking art and African hospitality, visitors to Mazola's Orange Circle should be in for a unique treat.