Lion 1999

This collage, Lion, by Rosemary Karuga, is a dazzling display of color and texture using found paper. It’s like she built the lion and its flowery world piece by piece, finding just the right scrap to fit her vision. I imagine Karuga, surrounded by piles of paper, carefully selecting each piece for its color, tone, and even the printed text it bears. There's a real push-and-pull between representation and abstraction here, each scrap working to create the image while also asserting its own identity as a fragment. Look at the lion's mane, a mix of browns and yellows. The flowers are a riot of blues, purples and whites and give the image a sense of joy. This reminds me of Matisse's late cut-outs, a similar joy in color and form. It's like Rosemary Karuga is reminding us that art can be found anywhere, in the most unexpected materials, and that the process of making is as important as the final image.