April Kamunde
April Kamunde at her studio in Nairobi. See more of her work here
April Kamunde is a visual artist based in Nairobi. She describes herself as being in the discovery stage of her career as she is shifting from portraiture towards creating more figurative work. She has been a practicing artist for the last 17 years, majority of which has been on part time basis. However, 11 months ago she decided to take the leap (during a pandemic) to become a full time artist, letting go of a well paying job, a move that many termed risky considering the current socio-economic climate.
We sat down with April to understand her career trajectory, what inspired her bold move, how she creates multiple streams of income as an artist in Kenya, some of the challenges she experiences among other things.
"Juju", oil and wood chips on canvas, 2019. Exhibited at the Red Exhibition at One Off Contemporary Gallery.
Give us a brief synopsis of your background as an artist
I was actually in high school when I sold my first piece of art. My aunt had come by to visit and she saw me working on some art homework and she was quite impressed and asked me to paint something for her and she would pay me for it. After that initial piece my aunt and uncle proceeded to commission over 10 pieces of my work within the next few years, and through them, I got a number of referrals for my work. I continued my practice through school which grew my confidence over time.
Being a full time artist had never really been my primary goal, it was always meant to be thing that I did on the side to supplement my school fees and gave me some pocket money. Initially I wanted to pursue graphic design as an undergraduate degree but my parents weren’t sold on that idea. I was equally strong in the sciences as I was in the arts and my dad made a strong case for me to pursue the sciences as I could always practice my art on the side.
"Three Degrees of Joy-Part 2", 2021
75cm by 75cm
Oil on canvas.
11 months ago (during a pandemic) you made the decision to transition to a becoming a full time artist, what led you to this decision?
To be honest, Covid is what made me decide to leave a lucrative full time position to become a full time artist. I was at the point in my life where I had felt quite strained and stretched by the work environment I was in and I questioned whether it was what I wanted for myself for the foreseeable future. When the pandemic happened, it worsened the strain I was already feeling personally and professionally.
I thought of the different ways I could improve my overall well-being and I imagined that if I could just wake up and paint every day, that would make so happy. So I decided to figure out what this would look like and how to make it happen.
I started by reaching out to other full time artists that I know and began having conversations with them. Through these conversations I was able to gain an understanding of what it meant to be a full time artist. I also spoke to art dealers and other people in the sector because I wanted to know how it could be done. So through this research, my experience and my accomplishments up to that moment, I became convinced that I could channel 100 percent of my effort into my art and give it a shot.
Laughing Girl", oil on canvas, 2020
How did you know you could make a living wage out of your practice?
When I was in university I had created a portfolio of my work and it gave me record or proof that I had something that people were willing to buy. I had the confidence of the commissions I had been creating for the last 17 years. I knew there were people who were willing to pay me for my work who were not just my family.
Another key moment was in 2019 when I had donated one of my paintings to a fundraising gala for an organization that I really love. I donated the work to support the organization and my expectations on how it would perform at the auction were quite modest. I was not expecting anything out of the ordinary . The painting went on to sell for KES150,000 ($1500) which was unexpected. The event created a significant response to my work and was a huge boost for my career as an artist.
Lastly, a few months into Covid one of the top galleries in Nairobi issued an open call for artists to submit artworks with a “RED” theme. I had a portrait of my great aunt that had a predominantly red scarf which I submitted and it was accepted and the piece ended up being sold. So those were really the three things that confirmed that my work was valuable and that I could make money out of my art.
"KEMBOI", oil on canvas, 2021.
110cm by 68cm.
In the last 11 months have you noticed any changes in your practice as a full time artist?
The speed with which I paint has been one of the things I’ve noticed. I feel like I could finish a painting in 2 weeks when I was working part time versus now that I'm working full time there are some pieces which have taken me six months to complete. Of course, I'm working on a lot more pieces at the same time but that's a significant thing that I'm still trying to figure out or trying to understand.
I also noticed that when I was painting part time a lot of my work was commission based off of reference images so there wasn't much thinking to do other than the technical bit of paint application. Now that I’m a full time artist I find that I spend a lot of time learning about different artists, materials and mediums. I’m trying to create my own body of work and I find that I put a lot of thought into my work, what the piece is trying to communicate and its’ space is in the entire body of work. I’m a lot more conscious now because I want to carve my own niche.
What has your approach been in developing a collector base ?
When I was in school I quickly realized that word of mouth was my best marketing tool. Initially my aunt and uncles would host these lunches and dinners that I would always make a point to attend and they would talk to their friends about my work. Because they hung up/displayed all the pieces that they commissioned me to create, their home quite frankly served as my first exhibition space of sorts now that I think about it; and it's through them that that is how I got most of my clients earlier on.
When I was younger I was very forward and intentional about showing people my work. With the portfolio I had created in university I used it to pitch my artwork to the Managing Director where I was an intern and he ended up commissioning a portrait of his family, as did two senior management members at my first job after graduation.
In present day, social media has been a big help in terms of developing a collector base outside of my family. Through sharing my process and expressing myself and my work on the internet, I've received a lot of support for my work and also a lot of commissions which has allowed me to be booked from February to September this year. This has all been through word of mouth and people seeing my work and wanting to commission work for themselves.
"Evening Routines",
Oil on canvas, 75cm*75cm, 2020
Describe some challenges that you’re currently experiencing as an artist and how you’re working to address them
One of the challenges that I contemplated earlier on was the lack of opportunities available for artists to showcase their work especially in a professional manner that impacts people’s perception of your work and the quality of your work. There are less than 10 galleries in Nairobi so that really narrows down the opportunity to show your work to new audiences and legitimize your career as an artist.
My attempt to address this challenge is to look at showcasing my work at non-conventional spaces that would still increase my visibility to new audiences and widening the access so as to make art a bit more accessible. I am leveraging on existing relationships with people who have existing spaces that are aligned with my vision. Around Nairobi you can see that there is some effort by establishments such as coffee houses and restaurants that are opening up their wall space for artists to showcase their work.
Another challenge is that due to the difficult socio-economic times we’re living in, the pool of people who are willing to spend money on art has shrunk quite a bit. People have had to divert their funds to other priorities and this has inspired me to think of other ways to leverage my skills and not just rely on commissions. I am lucky to have found a mentor who is helping me with this process to think through other streams of income such as producing prints of my work or providing art classes for kids or taking up an apprentice or student.
Who are your biggest influences ?
I’m inspired by various types of artists but especially those who create figurative work and represent people of color.
Toyin Oji Odutola is a Nigerian artist based in New York and her work is very striking in that she does figurative work or portraits that are not conventionally posed. Tim Okamura is Canadian artists who paints a lot of urban women in urban environments with strong political messages. In his technique he uses a lot of thick application of paint and his paintings are larger than life.
Locally I recently paid a visit to Wambui Kamiru Collymore’s installation exhibition in Nairobi titled “Akili Ni Nywele” at One-off Contemporary Gallery that triggered a lot of childhood and early adult memories and I was really inspired by that work and I think installation art is an art form that I will be drawn to going forward.
AFTER THE FIRST WAVE (I) Oil on canvas (enclosed in floating frame)
100cm by 70cm
If you had to describe the message that your work carries what would you say is your works seminal message?
A few years ago I had the opportunity to travel to the UK and while there I visited the National Portrait Gallery and saw over 200 paintings and only two of those were of people of colour.
That really struck me and when I thought of what I wanted my work to represent, I thought it was apt to create work that depicts us. I really like seeing us on canvas and not in a way that we’re used to seeing through the lens of western media but us now as modern, current and present day Kenyans captured on canvas.
What are you currently working now?
I am working on my first body of work titled “Can You Draw Me? Portraits of Us” it’s primarily a collection of work of people in my sphere of influence going on about their daily lives or experiencing something special. What I’m hoping for this body of work is for us to see ourselves in the work and for the audience to resonate in their own personal context with the everyday emotions and actions being depicted in the work.
