“Nduumo–Girls’ Dance,” 2015, hand-wrought, patinated, and textured mabati, stitched and crocheted steel wire, 99 × 90 × 24 in. Photo courtesy of the artist.
Naomi Wanjiku Gakunga
Teaching Artist Cohort
,
2026
Naomi Wanjiku Gakunga is a Kenyan-born artist based in San Antonio whose sculptural practice transforms vernacular materials and inherited making traditions into contemporary forms that engage labor, memory, structure, and cultural transmission. Working primarily with mabati (galvanized sheet metal), she uses weathering, cutting, bending, and fastening to shift an industrial material into sculptures that register time, touch, and structural tension.
Raised in Kenya, Gakunga draws on intergenerational knowledge, social memory, and material resourcefulness to examine how form carries history across bodies, objects, and space. Over more than two decades, she has developed a practice spanning studio sculpture, community engagement, teaching, and public art, with work that moves between intimate material transformation and architectural scale. Through exhibitions, public art, community engagement, and teaching, she connects material transformation with craft transmission.
Gakunga holds a BA in Design from the University of Nairobi and an MA in Design from UCLA. Her work has been exhibited internationally, including at the Royal Academy of Arts, Frieze New York, and October Gallery in London, and is held in collections including the San Antonio Museum of Art, Art in Embassies, and National Museums Scotland. Her honors include the Charles Wollaston Award from the Royal Academy of Arts and the 2025 Craft Texas Award.
Selected works
“Where Shadows Linger,” 2024, patinated mabati, stitched and crocheted steel wire, 86 × 63 × 1 in. Photo courtesy of the artist.
“Tushauriane–Let’s Talk About It,” 2013, sheet metal, fabric, stitching and crocheting with steel wire, 90 × 84 × 1 in. Photo courtesy of the artist.
“Reeds and Rivers,” 2025, hand-painted cotton fabric, braided yarns, knitted swatches, painting, machine stitching, crocheting, and knitting, 78 × 74 in. Photo courtesy of the artist.
“Windows of Hope,” 2025, sheet metal with paper, crocheted and stitched steel wire, 80 × 63.5 × 1 in. Photo courtesy of the artist.
“Silent Voices,” 2023, fabric, machine and hand stitching, 75 × 74 in. Photo courtesy of the artist.
“Itoonyero,” 2013, patinated sheet metal, building hardware, stitching with steel wire, 89 × 55 × 1 in. Photo courtesy of the artist.
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