Artist Irene Wanjiru raises $10K for New Hope For Women
Irene Wanjiru in Southport where she has been creating art - from sculptures to bookcases - from found materials on land and by sea. The artist, who hails from Kenya, then put her work up for sale and donated all of the proceeds - $10,000 - to New Hope For Women. Courtesy of Ian Brown Photography
Kenyan sculptor/artist Irene Wanjiru creating. Courtesy of Ian Brown Photography
Irene Wanjiru in Southport where she has been creating art - from sculptures to bookcases - from found materials on land and by sea. The artist, who hails from Kenya, then put her work up for sale and donated all of the proceeds - $10,000 - to New Hope For Women. Courtesy of Ian Brown Photography
Kenyan sculptor/artist Irene Wanjiru creating. Courtesy of Ian Brown Photography
On the midsummer day when Kenyan artist Irene Wanjiru arrived in Southport to begin her 10-week residency, she didn’t picture her closing exhibition taking place in wintery conditions. But nature, and the Maine coast, have a way of surprising us.
Visitors to the October 17 and 18 exhibition at a waterside cottage in Southport had to brave a gusting north wind off the Sheepscot River, and the season’s first stray snowflakes.
Wanjiru, however, thrives on surprises from nature; in fact, her art depends upon them. She works with found objects, both natural and man-made, transforming driftwood and seaglass into inventive creatures. She carves materials that suggest a form within, waiting to be revealed - found stones, trunks of trees that have been felled by woodpeckers, and even sticks of firewood that catch her eye.
The exhibition included purely aesthetic pieces, as well as functional art. A driftwood tree-trunk was upended and carved into a majestic group of standing giraffes, with roots transformed into heads and inlaid with seaglass for eyes. Three bookcases were fashioned from woodpecker-hollowed trees, chiseled with elaborate designs and inlaid with glass salvaged from the sea and the recycling bin. Short logs and firewood became fully functioning bottle-openers, carved into works of art in their own right.
For more on Irene’s art, visit http://www.irenewanjiru.com/
Over 75 people braved the chilly conditions over the weekend, enjoying the art and celebrating the close of Wanjiru’s residency with Kenyan food made by the artist and samples of Tusker lager, her homeland’s favorite brew. Purchases and donations totaled $10,000 with all proceeds going to New Hope for Women, a resource center offering support to people in Midcoast Maine affected by domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking.
Wanjiru was the inaugural artist-in-residence at the Spillway Fund, an arts and environmental organization that seeks to help preserve and protect the natural environment of southern and Midcoast Maine by promoting clean energy, supporting sustainable agriculture, and encouraging a passion for the area’s unique natural heritage through arts residencies and education. Learn more at spillwayfund.org.
New Hope for Women offers support to people in Sagadahoc, Lincoln, Knox, and Waldo counties affected by domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking, and provides educational resources to assist our communities in creating a safer and healthier future.
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