Mutu’s work involves developing and expanding a personal myth-making which combines her childhood experiences and memories from Kenya as well as her own journey through various cultures and experiences. This sculpture is based on the tradition of coastal East African Nguva or water women. These mythical beings wander restless and vicious and are told in stories to have pulled men from their boats, drowning them in the water. Their fictions stand in stark contrast to the Hans Christian Anderson / Disney versions that perpetuate contemporary Western society and it is this difference that Mutu wishes to draw attention.

Mutu’s work been making waves recently as the New York Times revealed in an article titled, “Met Museum Acquires Two Sculptures by Wangechi Mutu,” two of Mutu’s sculptures will adorn the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s facade on Fifth Avenue as part of their permanent contemporary collection. Four of her sculptures will be feature in their exhibition titled, “The NewOnes, will free Us.”

To read more about Mutu’s work and the Met, click here:

“Met Museum Acquires Two Sculptures by Wangechi Mutu”