In his latest iteration “Reconstructed Identities”, Mbugua explores themes of trauma and reconstruction. His creative process is inspired by two ancient techniques : stained glass and kintsugi (the Japanese art of repairing broken pots).
He remains committed to his signature pointillist approach of portraying his characters over a background of painted pictogram patterns on acrylic sheets. Just as stained glass has historically been utilised to illustrate important stories or to preserve significant moments in a people’s history, Mbugua paints on acrylic sheets to celebrate friendships and to tell stories inspired by his everyday lived experiences.
For this new body of works, he goes further by cutting his painted acrylic sheet into pieces before assembling the fragments together using oxidised wire. The artist’s thought process borrows from the Kintsugi philosophy which treats breakage and repair as part of the history of an object, rather than something to disguise. By subjecting his paintings to cuts, fragmentation and reconstruction, Mbugua sees this as an important multi-layered metaphor for our life experiences.
