Sculpting: Absalom Aswani does wall art in people’s homes, hotels

It took Absalom Aswani, a man whose art is found on the walls of homes in Kenya and abroad, about a year to rehearse what best materials he could use to create his relief artwork.

Mr Aswani has done a range of different arts, from macramé design to painting and drawing, pastel art, and illustration art. Now he has settled for relief art because it is something new in the Kenyan market.

BDLife found the muralist at one of his artwork spaces in Nairobi’s Karen, sculpting a monk.

“It’s a new space for me. I want Kenyans to see that their walls don’t always have to have cladding or pictures. You can have something simple and elegant on the wall,” he says.

He has mostly worked with companies from Italy, hence the exposure.

“Most of the work I do is not in Kenya and if it is, most of it has been exported to some parts of Europe,” says the artist who has been doing relief sculpture for two years now.

Social media has helped many businesses find clients but, Mr Aswani, who is not on social media, says referrals have been his biggest marketer.

And because clients want art that speaks for itself, his wall art has grown in popularity.

To get the right art on the wall, first, he does a consultation.

A client says what they want, and Mr Aswani then comes up with paper sketches.

“Once the client zeros in exactly on what they want, I have a mock-up feel of how the image would look like on the wall,” he says.

“Depending on the depth of the relief art, it might need some more time to lose moisture. Once that is done I do a finish colour and coat with a sealant that seals the artwork on the wall,” he adds.

The work can take a week or two.

"The kind of material I use is not available in Kenya, I have to reach out to a specific factory that makes them, and then I import it,” he says.

Cost

Mr Aswani says every time people see his art, their first question is how much it costs; they assume it is overly priced.

“Kenyans are not very good consumers of art; they limit artistic ideas to only drawing face portraits. They don’t give a chance to external exposure to different shades of art. It’s very hard to say you are going to earn an honest living from art alone unless you become innovative with your art,” he says.

“Depending on the art piece the wall feature ranges from around Sh40,000 going up,” he adds.

His love began at a young age.

“I remember my mother slapping me while complaining she wanted me to read, not to draw,” he says. “Now I equate my talent to alcohol. When people drink alcohol and get high I equally get the same feeling while doing my work. I seek to amaze people. I like challenges – anything that looks difficult makes me want to go for it and come up with a wall solution.”

Mr Aswani studied art up to the university level.

“Professionally I am supposed to be teaching educational art,” he says.

His most memorable moment as an artist was when he got teary seeing a security man marvelling at what he had created.

When Mr Aswani is tired of looking at walls and creating the best out of them, he teaches private classes and also takes part in motorsport, which he has done for 15 years. He hopes to be the first Kenyan to participate in the Dakar rally.

The most memorable pieces he has created?

“The zebra and tree in Hurlingham. What I like about that one is the fact that when you are standing next to the wall you will imagine there are animals next to you, especially with how big the wall art is,” he says.

“I also did an art in Naivasha which was inspired by the environment. The owner wanted something that communicated the place's serenity being an area with wildlife attractions, especially different birds.

"I did a tree with pelican birds flying and got the most phenomenal reaction of real birds flying into the hotel pricking the wall thinking it’s a real tree,” he adds.

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