Humanimals: Exhibition unmasks animal instincts in us

The Redhill Art Gallery sits like a footnote on the pinnacle of a small hill on the outskirts of Nairobi.

For the past month, she has played host to yet another unique artist dabbling in ink, acrylic and pastel media to come up with surreal paintings in an exhibition dubbed Humanimals by Dar Al Naim.

In essence, Humanimals is a profound study of the inner self. The artists fuse our shared instincts with the animal world, and it is no surprise that the correlation between the human and animal spirit is interwoven through the colours of Dar Al Naims’ work.

The exhibition can be considered a guide for recognising the animal within us in its almost raw and unfiltered form.

The exhibition richly draws from the artist’s Sudanese Arabic background and is largely inspired by ancient fables, folklore, and fairy tales long used to convey the delicate nature of the human condition. She adventures into how invariably our instincts shape our unique identities.

Central to Humanimals is the shattering of the depiction of what normal art looks like. It is abstractly bold in its usage of shapes lines and colours to bring the various subjects the artist has in mind to life and admittedly if one doesn’t pay enough attention to the figurines etched on paper in the gallery, it is easy to get lost.

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This is because Humanimals changes the understood norms of standard identity art.

From the artist’s perspective, one should consider this exhibition as a visual dialogue on identity, emotion, and the raw instincts that lie beneath the surface of every person.

For Dar Al Naim, the exhibition is an invitation for viewers to confront their inner animal and reflect on the complexities of their nature within a world where human and animal consciousness endlessly merge.

One admirable trait in Dar Al Naims work is the use of colours that have different contrasts to paint the different themes that run through the Humanimals series.

One would be particularly impressed by how natural to the eyes the colours on the paintings are whether it be the use of cerulean blues or verdant greens, the colours on her murals dance beautifully to the eyes perhaps humanising her subjects.

The intermarriage between animal and human form is the clearest subject grasped at an eye glance in Womanhood, Bird Problems or In Search for Peace paintings, the artist’s work embraces a diversity that is disciplined to the theme, perhaps in itself a dull irony.

The diversity in terms of style exploited across the theme is perhaps the artist’s biggest strength and one can tell that she is not a stranger to the craft.

Whether it is the use of colour mosaics or concentric line forms to highlight shapes and figures, whether it is the use of bold and conservative styles of shading or irregular collages to house her subjects, Dar Al Naims artistic mind sticks out as wildly liberal. As an artist, she narrows down her work to be deeply rooted in the exploration of identity language, memory and the human experience.

Dar Al Naim describes herself as being drawn to the expressive potential of mixed media which allows her to fuse traditional and contemporary techniques in ways that challenge contemporary boundaries.

“My work often incorporates hand-carved and hand-pressed prints made from recycled materials, including unconventional mediums like potatoes, along with ink drawings and mixed media paintings. This approach reflects my deep engagement with texture layering and collage practices.”

Her inspiration is drawn from her motherland Sudan.

“I draw inspiration from the landscapes and people of my homeland, Sudan as well as the intricate dynamics of language and the resilience of the human mind. These elements converge in my work to create spaces that I believe are deeply personal yet broadly relatable.”

Her work is a push against the boundaries of ordinary narrative as seen in the different inlays and outlays of her works in these series, from the experimentations with both bright and dull colours, her works explore new conversations and realities while remaining true to the core theme.

“I see each piece as part of a larger narrative, one that speaks to the ongoing journey of understanding, healing and growth.”