For over 15 years, Gemini Vaghela has worked across multimedia forms, exploring identity, growth and preservation through her art. Moving between traditional painting and digital processes, her work reflects a practice through experimentation and personal reflection.
With an academic background in interactive multimedia technologies and photography, she draws inspiration from how refined the digital world is. And she also finds ways to merge digital and traditional art, for instance, transforming paintings into wearable pieces.
“I first create hand-painted artworks, then get them digitally printed onto fabrics which can be worn as scarves or sarongs, or stitched into other garments,” she says.
Vaghela traces her journey into art back to her early studies. After studying fine art at A level, she realised this is something she likes and enjoys. At the same time, she recognised that the world was moving to a more digital world, so her university education focused more on digital forms.
Despite this, her passion was still in traditional art-making; therefore, she continued creating traditional forms of art. She experimented widely with materials and techniques, then focused more on abstract work, exploring themes of personal identity and reflections about life.
“As one grows, you get a deeper meaning into how the world works and the importance of understanding where you fit into the world by being yourself,” she said.
Appreciating what makes a person unique is central to drives her to create works that don’t fit into the conventional world of art, especially in Kenya.
At some point, she lived and practised in Perth before returning to Nairobi. The experience broadened a deeper understanding of different cultures and ways of life as well as made her appreciate how colourful the Kenyan culture is.
“Coming back to where I was born just brought back the appreciation of our ways of life, culture and the unique environment we have,” she says.
Returning to Kenya also influenced the materials she uses, as the materials had to change more so because of limited availability of variety.
Vaghela chooses a medium depending on the message she wants to communicate. While she primarily works with acrylic on canvas for this series, she also experiments with recycled paper for environmentally related works.
This blending of ideas and mediums also appears in her ongoing series Illuminated Journeys. She was inspired by the growth of a person as they experience life through ups and downs and do not let the downs drown them out. The series examines personal journeys of growth influenced partly by changing relationships over the years.