Working across many mediums, Wangechi Mutu’s practice draws upon references such as East African coastal folklore and mythologies, gender, anthropology, environmental science, and politics. Living between New York and Nairobi, Mutu blends East African and African diasporic cultures with Western cultural traditions in hybrid creatures merging human and animal forms. These figures incorporate materials from her Kenyan homeland, connecting nature with science fiction futures to confront the violent history and trauma inflicted on black women’s bodies as she proposes fantastical new worlds. Afrofuturism is central to her re-examination of colonial histories and re-imagination of a liberated future of self-empowerment.
At the entrance of the museum lies a Sleeping Serpent with her blue ceramic head, the head of a woman, resting on a pillow. Her black body has a large bulge, suggesting she is either pregnant or has just devoured a large meal. Surrounded by a variety of bottles and what look like apothecary objects, her sleeping face looks peaceful. This work references overconsumption, birth, and objec- tification of the black female body in today’s world.
In a video work, The End of carrying All, a woman (the artist) is seen struggling up a hill, carrying a large basket on her head. The basket grows heavier with large objects, symbols of everyday life, and carrying the weight of the world causes her to bend over and struggle. A plague of locusts suddenly appears. The load eventually consumes her, transforming into a jelly-like amorphous mass. The noise intensifies, and the jelly falls over the edge of a cliff, crashing. This depiction of overconsumption acts as a salutary warning of the dystopian future that our environment almost inevitably faces.