Chemu Ng'Ok

Ivy Brandie Chemutai Ng’ok (Chemu Ng’ok) investigates personal, psychological, political, and spiritual relationships through her art. Her works unveil tensions and shifts in belief systems within African societies, blending reality and imagination to create intricate narratives. These include themes such as the act of negotiating power for the self within the institution, bearing witness to ceremonies, the search for justice, and navigating loss through the body within the theme of transition. The works are in constant flux as their meaning changes over time and the ambiguity of the work allows for different interpretations. Painting becomes a verb, an act of doing, searching, witnessing, navigating. An elusive conclusion is never reached. “In painting the body, I show a psychological disjuncture. The flexibility of flesh offers me painterly ammunition. Lines hint at the unfinished aspects of thought… The lines morph and become a type of coding that hovers “in the air” of Painting. These transmutations are endless. They refer to language, memory, ritual, absence, a future that is yet to be determined, things left unsaid and bodies on the verge of eruption.” – Chemu Ng'ok