A SMALL NOTE that reads “99 goats” hangs on a wall in Njeri Kinuthia’s studio. It serves as a reminder to the Kenyan-born artist of a marriage custom that assigns value to a woman for the required dowry payment to receive permission for her to marry.
Years ago, Kinuthia—a graduate of UCF—rejected that particular custom. And she began to feel uncomfortable with what seemed to be the status quo for everyone else: gender-based violence, arranged marriages and, in some cases, child brides.
“I started questioning, why is this happening to women? Why are they saying as a woman, I can only do this? There were so many restrictions,” Kinuthia said in a 2023 interview on WUCF’s Global Perspectives. “I found that a lot of women identify and resonate with what I’m saying.”
Today Kinuthia uses her experience as fuel for her breathtaking mixed-media art, which will be on display through August 17 at the Albin Polasek Museum & Sculpture Gardens. The exhibition is called Je, Niko Huru? Threads of Freedom. (“Niko Huru” is a Swahili phrase that translates to English as, “I am free.”)
After earning a scholarship in 2021 to attend UCF—where she worked toward an MFA in emerging media, studio art and design—she began to dive deeper into her experience through self-portraiture.
Kinuthia says she felt reluctant to show her work during her first two years in the program because it explored often-uncomfortable themes of self-reflection, feminism and the suppression of women perpetuated by cultural and societal norms.
But when she finally decided to share, people began to notice. Among them was Polasek Curator Tamie Diener-Lafferty, who says she was impressed with what she saw at a 2024 exhibition at UCF that showcased the thesis projects of MFA candidates.
Kinuthia’s pieces incorporate charcoal, pastels and textiles. Her compositions often depict female figures with tightly woven fabrics wrapped around their head and faces, evoking feelings of suffocation to symbolize women’s oppression.
Her distinctive style incorporates colorful and vibrant textiles from Kenya, along with donated repurposed fabrics from local women’s organizations. Perhaps ironically, given the subject matter, her style reflects some influence from her undergraduate education in fashion design and marketing from Machakos University in Kenya.
“When I saw Njeri’s work, I felt that she was a compelling emerging artist with something important to say,” says Diener-Lafferty, who invited Kinuthia to stage an exhibition at the Polasek. In 2024, the rising artist won the People’s Choice Award at Orlando Museum of Art’s Florida Prize in Contemporary Art exhibition.
Kinuthia’s signature piece, Hail Reverend Njeri—which was among her Florida Prize entries—will be one of about two dozen installations on view at the Polasek.
The 3D self-portrait, draped with African robes, is suspended at least 8 feet high so the viewer must look up to meet her gaze. “I’m taking a place of authority,” says Kinuthia. “My work became a celebration of my newly found identity and power within myself. So, it went from being all wrapped up and suppressed to taking a huge presence.”
The Polasek is located at 633 Osceola Avenue, Winter Park. For more information, call 407.647.6294 or visit polasek.org.
