Cynthia Nyakiro Ngunjiri is a multimedia visual artist based in Nairobi, Kenya. Nyakiro has been interested in the arts since childhood. “I always had a desire to express myself and I found out at an early age that I can translate my thoughts into something concrete.” After completing high school, she began taking a degree in architecture at Nelson Mandela University but then decided to follow her passion in the visual arts. She is now in her final year studying Fine Art at Kenyatta University.

Nyakiro draws her inspiration from nature and human relationships, as well as the metaphysical. She works with various media such as recycled paper, x-rays, magazine cut-outs, ink, bleach, pigment, photography and digital media. Her works embody the creativity that she garners from her environment. Inspired by the Dadaist movement, she uses the techniques of photomontage and collage. “I like to gather various objects, observing their nature, taking them apart and grouping them together. I view every material I collect for my pieces as having infinite lives. By distorting and pasting different bits and pieces together, I breathe life into them – give them new significance.”

Nyakiro’s work of art are in private collections both locally and internationally.

Awards

MASK Awards 2017

MASK Awards 2018

Artist statement

“I create as a response to the visual metaphors in my mind. Through my work I am able to go inward, explore worlds unknown to me, in an effort to better understand myself and find connections with others.”

CV & exhibition history

Education

2018-22 - Fine Art, Kenyatta University

Exhibitions

MASK's group exhibition 'Early 21^st Century Young African Artists', Saatchi Gallery, London, UK, 2018

MASK's group exhibition 'All art should be social art’, Turner Contemporary, Margate, UK, 2018

Publications

 POTS, People of the Soil magazine, Summer 2019, Fourth Issue, 2019