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Lake and forest captured in jade and silver

Friday June 01 2018
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Camille Wekesa with one of her paintings from the series 'Jade & Silver.' PHOTO | MARGARETTA WA GACHERU | NMG

By RUPI MANGAT

I caught up with Camille Wekesa at her latest exhibition, Jade & Silver, at Muthaiga Country Club last month, where she showcased Kenyan landscapes painted using mixed media.

Wekesa studied art in Italy, and is the founder of Orkedi Ltd, set up to create a permanent collection of art featuring African landscapes and wildlife.

The Jade & Silver exhibition is about Lake Turkana also known as the Jade Sea, which is the largest permanent lake in a desert, and Tsavo National Park (Tree series).

Wekesa is best known for her layering technique to create depth and colour.

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How did you choose the title Jade & Silver?

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I love the colour Jade, which is the dominant colour of Lake Turkana. It stands out amongst all the greyness of northern Kenya.

The Tree series are about the shimmering metallic colours of the trees in Tsavo, so I chose another colour to symbolise that.

What’s your favourite painting in this exhibition?

The Tsavo Tree series. It’s a set of 18 panels of the Commiphora tree. Three years ago I was in Tsavo and it was extremely dry. There were no leaves on the trees; they had many different shapes and metallic colours. I wanted to capture the shimmer. I used water-based tempera paint and pearl-lustre powder with fine brushes.

It’s the same technique as the Wildlife series in this collection. Gesso panels are wooden planks primed with gesso — a mix of an animal glue binder, chalk and white pigment used to coat wooden panels before painting.

How did you capture the vivid jade and the shades of the petrified forest by the lake?

I built up 40 layers of colour over a year or more, starting with the darker hues which helped me create depth particularly in the Jade Sea. I started working on this collection in 2015 in Tsavo. I returned last year, and also went to Turkana in the same year.

You are also exhibiting this collection in London.

My last exhibition in London was in 2012, so I felt it was the right time to return.

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