Onyis Martin, Nairobi
Akinyi, 2015.
About:
Through his paintings, Onyis leads us into his own cultural world,a world in which the sacred and the profane constantly mingle,in which worship and domestic life are one and the same,in which every gesture has a pre-established purpose and in which everything has a meaning.Within that culture,everything is determined in advance,everything that occurs in the present can be explained in terms of the past and has to be ritualized so as to be integrated into everyday life,which is itself a ritual.As we walk into his paintings,we have to look deep into our own souls for it awakens sensations and feelings which we,caught up as we are in an inhuman and artificial world ,thought were lost for ever.
Mokorino, 2015.
Desire, 2015.
Spider, 2015.
Onyis has done exhibitions in Kenya and Denmark,and works with kids in Mathare and Kibera slums in teaching art and crafts as part of giving back to the community and recently has been involved with kids at the cancer section in painting with them.
He is also a NLP practioner, Systematic work therapist and Thai Yoga masseur.
Using mixed media including paper collage and cloth, today, his subject matter consists of aspects of everyday life, a lot of which includes figurative paintings of the Kenyan disposition.As Martin explores different styles, we are privy to some harmonious and some disordered works… all part of the growing pains of becoming an artist (text on website artist)