A sculptor weaving scrap metal

Dickens Otieno was meant to be an engineer, according to his father’s dream. But this Kenyan sculptor has taken after his mother, a gifted, hard-working seamstress, instead.

Dickens studied engineering for a time, but he gave it up to be a full-time artist. Nonetheless, he has found that study useful as he creates sculptures requiring internal ‘engineering’ in the form of metal wireframes that serve as skeletons to give his jackets, trousers, and gowns the regal statuesque stance that enhance the dignity of each design.