Albums

http://www.flickr.com/photos/41021742@N08/sets/72157621887238342/show/

Women Series

Shared Secrets, 2009 16" x 19"

Shared Secrets is showing at:

2009 National Small Art Quilt Work Exhibition

July 23 - September 6, 2009

Main Street Gallery, Groton, New York

http://www.mainstreetgal.com/

In this quilt, I have combined different textile techeniques to achieve a multilayered effect. I have woven, braided, knitted, and crocheted strings, creating a variety of cords. I meshed the assembly of strings and cords with fabrics that I sew in my studio. I have created the abstract using unique techniques that include crocheting and stitching with stainless steel wire; quilting with recycled metal that I hand stitch with stainless steel wire; and embellishing with wire strung seeds from the neighborhood gardens.

Today

Nothing New: Fiber Art from Recycled Materials
June 19th – August, 2009
Textile Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota
http://www.textilecentermn.org/

Elegance 2Light Fantastic Exhibition
June 11 – July 19, 2009
Main Street Gallery, Groton New York
http://www.mainstreetgal.com/

I have worked with recycled materials ever since I was a child growing up in Kenya. In this body of work, I have taken recycled cans, and transformed them into contemporary art sculptures. The new and the not so new cans are stitched into each other with various gauges of steel wire. This body of work celebrates the transformation of recycled material into contemporary art. It is a celebration of bringing together the old and the new.

Women of the World

Kenyan women have many burdens to carry, yet we walk tall.

Naomi Wanjiku Gakunga

From: Women of the World: A Global Collection of Art

Claudia Demonte

Pomegranate Communications, Inc

San Francisco, CA

http://www.claudiademonte.com/wow/wow.html

Dolls

 In Kenya, Beauty has always been expressed by wearing elaborate jewelry and dramatic hair styles.

Naomi Wanjiku Gakunga

From: Real Beauty

http://www.claudiademonte.com/rb/rb.html#project

My dolls are a combination of two techniques: knitting and weaving. I learnt weaving from my grandmother and her friends.They were basket weavers. My mother always knitted and I learnt to knit by observing and mimicking her movements. These colorful knittted-woven dolls symbolize a three generation relationship. They represent continuity, endurance, friendship, and love. They bring three generations of women who share different, yet common passions, to the same moment and time.

Imagining Ourselves

As a generation of women, we have limitless possibilities, and we should all learn to map our journey and identify these possibilities. Once we have made achievements as individuals, it will dawn on us that we are all one large, beautiful quilt, made of individual stitches. Stitches represent unhurried action.

Our journey into the future should be unhurried; it should be one of perseverance, dedication, and love. As we move forward, we should embrace one another and have an underlying understanding of the spirit of sisterhood.

We are branches borne of strong tress. These branches have no boundaries. We float in the sky, taking in the breeze and the sunshine. We, the branches, are able to reach far and wide.

Naomi Wanjiku
From: Imagining Ourselves; Global Voices From a New Generation of Women
Paula Goldman (Ed)
New World Library, Novato California

http://imaginingourselves.imow.org/pb/Story.aspx?id=801&lang=1&g=0

Strings of Love: Inspiration from a Kenyan tradition

Quilting Arts Magazine

Strings of Love: Inspiration from a Kenyan tradition

Naomi Wanjiku Gakunga

A comprehensive article about my journey as an artist is available in the April / May 2009 issue of the Quilting Arts magazine.

Landscapes

 Dawn, 2009 28" x 45"

Dusk, 2007 22" x 25"

These two pieces are included in a traveling group show entitled Fiber Force curated by Studio Art Quilters Associations vice-president soon to be President Lisa Chipetine.

They will be touring with the Mancuso Show Circuit from October 2009 to october 2010. http://www.quiltfest.com/