Dickens Otieno
Born in 1779 in the western part of Kenya, I was raised by my father who was a teacher and my mother who used to make Kitenge dresses. I went through primary and secondary school back in the rural before moving to Nairobi for further college education. I went to The Kenya Polytechnic where I graduated with a diploma in mechanical engineering.
As a young boy I loved drawing and making toys fom cooking fat tins, clay and even found cartons which made me very porpular with other boys whom I would help make their toys for them in return for protection from bullies, but I never new this is what I would do in life in future as neither the parents nor the education system supported this i.e. we were taught to become lawyers, doctors or pilots so as to be respectable people.
I tarmacked for a while after college and then one day came across a mural in Kibera where I stayed with my uncle then and immediately realised what I wanted to do with my life. After some investigation I found that Kota and Gomba of Maasai Mbili did the Murals and they were the first professional artist to meet. I approached them and they agreed to teach me how to paint on canvas and make art out of found objects. They were impressed by how fast I moved with my learning as most of these things I used to do while still in primary. After a while I started experimenting things out from the skills I learned by painting, making collage using bottle tops and sisal sack and even got inspiration from local artists, books with art history, the internet and worshops. This helped open my eyes further and its then art in things around me. This is how I discovered weaving aluminium can on wire mesh.
Currently I do sculptures clothes and flowing fabrics.
My Statement:
Clothes are important in many ways and thanks to the designers who are constantly thinking to bring the best garments for the occasion, the weather, the season etc i.e they keep people warm, cover their nudity and make them feel beautiful and confident and to me they even transform the look of a place like in a city scape for example, the different designs of clothes worn by different people add more colour and hence more beauty and life to the dead empty buildings and roads.
My clothe sculptures are portraits of people going about their daily routines in life like e.g. the school uniforms are portraits of children going to school to acquire different skills to help them in life in future whether boy or girl and more so in line with their individual interests and rights as human beings.
