NAME: Rohini Mavji
TITLE: What Even?
MEDIUM: Acrylic Paint on Canvas
DIMENSIONS: 8 x 8 cm
ARTWORK DESCRIPTION: : In a rapidly-changing and moving world, some of the simplest things remain constant through time. Transcending class, cultural background, this piece depicts one thing everyone needs.
ARTIST PROFILE: Rohini is a self-taught artist who enjoys her natural connection with each piece she creates. She believes that, in a world filled with chaos, art is an avenue for peace.
Judges' Quotes
This piece was a strong contender from the start. Displaying that less really is more, the artist shows that she has no points to prove with flashy colours. Instead, she focusses on the message, the city of Nairobi’s unique shoe-shine thrones.
This is an unusual piece in the simplicity of its storytelling and its size. It is the tiniest of pieces. We appreciate how simply the artist delivers this work. If you go to Ambassador (Hotel in Nairobi), you will most likely observe a similar scene. If you go to the old Nakumatt, you will find someone sitting in one of these highchairs getting their shoes polished.
We really enjoyed this work’s scale and material. The shoe-shine seat is common in many parts of Nairobi. But the artist’s decision to execute the work in a simple drawing, a series of lines that immediately captures what she is speaking to is an interesting one. She could have taken a different direction, executing her message in large scale, putting in much more in terms of narrative and visual material and so on. But she chose not to.