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By Margaretta wa Gacheru
All of my mother's children are what she used to
call 'late bloomers.'
This meant that during their younger years, they
were all considered socially ill-adjusted and out
of tune with what 'normal' children were supposed
to be like. But that didn't stop any of them from
having fruitful careers at a later age in their lives.
Emil Baumann is another 'late bloomer' whose colourful
one-man show of paintings is currently on display
at Paa ya Paa Art Centre.
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| Emil Baumann (right) with
his father Bill admiring Emil's 'Trilogy to Sudan'
on show at Paa ya Paa gallery. |
At 19, Emil is one of those chaps who didn't have
much use for the world outside his own incredible
psyche during his early years. But being a late bloomer
Emil's time for dealing with-- and defining, the world
on his own terms was bound to come. And as his first
one-man show strongly suggests, that time is now!
In fact Emil began emerging from his introspective
'cocoon' nearly three years ago, which is just about
the same time that he arrived in Kenya with his parents
Betty and Bob (sic), both of whom are craft development
volunteers with the Mennonites community of East Africa.
nearly three years also happens to be the name of
his PYP exhibition.
Whether it was the tropic climate that brought about
the artistic metamorphosis of Emil, or whether it
was the climate of easy, non-judgmental acceptance
that he instantly found here, the artist can't really
say for sure what inspired the outpouring of creativity
that's so evident in the 76 paintings of this show.
One thing seems certain however, and that is that
osmosis has had something to do with Emil's
becoming one of the most prolific young artists around,
painting nonstop practically every day into the wee
hours of the night-- even when he's got school the
next day.
It's osmosis in the sense that practically
from the day the Baumann family set foot in Kenya,
they have surrounded themselves with artists and artisans,
many of whom have been a tremendous source of inspiration
to Emil whose blossoming as a painter was manifest
long before his Paa ya Paa show opened early this
month.
In fact, one of the first local artists to recognise
Emil's germinating genius was Elimo Njau, former Fine
Art lecturer at Makerere University and PYP director.
Njau assured Emil of an exhibition at Paa ya Paa
-- 'on condition' he keep doing exactly what he'd
been doing at the time i.e. experimenting with various
media such as oil pastels, acrylics and water colours
and with various colours - the blending of which was
quite awesome from the very start.
But even Emil's works in black and white and shades
in between are evocative, as one will observe at Paa
ya Paa.
Having initially shied away from the stark extremes
in his experiments, it was one of his family's friends
who put the challenge to Emil-- to work with black
and white, just for a change.
As it happens, some of the loveliest works in the
show (including the one used on the exhibit's poster)
are in black and white with shades of gray - like
his trilogy to Sudan, painted shortly after his return
from a three week trip with is parents to northern
Sudan, and reflective of the artist's sensitivity
to the forms he saw and the feelings he had while
in that vast land.
Largely self-taught, Emil admits the works and encouragement
of former Kenyatta University Fine lecturer, Geraldine
Robards has also spurred him on to paint.
But ultimately, it's 'the sheer joy of painting'
that Emil says keeps him up burning the midnight oil.
Ever experimenting with colours and contours, lines
and layers of pastels and paints, sometimes he will
try layering his hues to see what effects emerge;
sometimes he'll have a specific place or time in mind
before he picks up his palette knife or brush to paint.
And on some occasions, Emil may simply splash acrylic
colours onto his canvas till his work blazes with
bold reds, whites, pale purples and glowing greens.
Some may wish to classify Emil's work as 'abstract'
since his works invite one's own subjective interpretation
of what the artist really 'means'.
But to Emil's close associates, there is nothing
'abstract' about their friend's art. On the contrary,
when he mails them paintings, rather than letters,
these communicate much more about Emil's thoughts
and feelings than any letter could. Nonetheless, all
this has happened in the last few years-- the metamorphosis
of an artist as a young man.
P.S. Emil would love to hear from you ---> EmilBaumann@aol.com
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