Walk the walk …
Wangechi Mutu’s 2019 figure stalks and struts, a cultural hybrid encompassing an Afrofuturist queen, samurai warrior, eco-avenger, disco diva and dominatrix. She doesn’t talk, she walks the walk. You wouldn’t mess.
Dressed to kill …
Her physique is a sleek entanglement of tree roots and taut flesh. As a silhouette, she might be wielding swords or whips, her feet clad in platform boots. The hair extensions that cascade from her arms are based on the sacred crowns worn by medicine women in some traditional African groups. They suggest a shaman’s animal skins, or the tassels on Elvis Presley’s jackets.
Around the blend …
The Kenya-born New Yorker is best known for baroque collages using imagery from natural history, fashion magazines, African traditions and sci-fi fantasy, where race, gender and even biology are put through the blender.
Fierce creatures …
Her challenge to cultural norms is leavened with a remarkable mix of fierceness and humour.
Included in Rock My Soul, Victoria Miro, N1, to 2 November
