Christine is a multi-talented and prolific artist. She is a painter and muralist, as well as a designer, sculptor, digital artist, animator, and writer. Oh yes… She’s also a trained acrobat. So, fitting myself into her schedule wasn’t easy, but I managed! For the sake of length, we’ll only focus on painting here.

I’d been noticing Christine’s elegant and ravishing works on Instagram for a while so when came the time for our video call, I made sure to use every second of it to know more about this hyper-versatile artist.

During her childhood, Christine naturally developed an aptitude for art, which, over the years, has increasingly asserted itself in her life as a means of expression. It was when she enrolled in the Fine Arts and Design program at Kenyatta University that she made her choice to make art her profession official, with the support of her parents. There, she learned to paint and perfected her skills with her peers.

Christine is a confessed introvert who likes to spend time with herself. She draws her inspiration from her personal experiences as well as from the history, society, and culture of her country, Kenya.

More specifically, her practice is concerned with the human form, particularly how bodies express untold stories and occupy and affect space, hence the importance of figures in her paintings. Figures are fractured, dynamic, and exaggerated in an expressive way, where their shapes and lines integrate with the environment in which they are found.

Being aware that ancestral culture and traditions erode over the generations, Christine intends to promote Africa’s historical and cultural heritage through her art, starting with that of the Kikuyu, one of the Kenyan ethnic groups to which she belongs. In doing so, she hopes to help the current Kenyan generation not forget its precious cultural wealth while sharing it with the world.

Christine, I’ve loved getting to know you and discovering your artistic universe. Keep on sharing your wide range of talents with us!

To purchase one or more of Christine’s stunning works, contact her here: https://www.instagram.com/karumachristine/

Location: Nairobi (Kenya)