“Trying to paint realistically is like trying to compete with a camera,” says Gakwaya Gisa, the Rwanda-born, San Antonio-based artist known for painting vibrant scenes of African life and culture. “With abstraction, you have the room to make people think and wonder.”
Gakwaya’s exhibit, Mama Africa, is now on view in Overland’s San Antonio office as part of a rotating installation that spotlights local artists. Through a collection of 30 works, Gakwaya takes us on a personal journey of his homeland. Some moments he depicts are wild (a hyena feeding ritual), while others are contemplative (a bold portrait of a lion with an unfurled mane in many colors), but “every piece makes my purpose feel more alive,” he says.
Here, we chat with Gakwaya to learn a few stories behind his art, how his work intersects with the built environment, and what he loves most about Africa.
Where did you find inspiration for the art in this exhibition?
It happened after my last trip home to Africa. I went to a little town in Ethiopia called Harar, where you can feed the hyenas. You take a stick, put a piece of meat on one end, and put your mouth on the other. Then the hyenas come and grab the meat. It’s an insane experience, a surreal moment. I knew I wanted to paint that and document it.
My mom helped me paint the lady in the green jacket. She said, ‘I see why you’re so into this. It’s very meditative.’ It was special for her to be able to tap into that creative energy. With the three skeleton giraffes, I was inspired by the Akagera National Park in Rwanda. I’ve always felt skeletons are misunderstood. Where I come from, we don’t see them as a bad thing. Death is a part of who we are. This painting also shows that there’s more to something than the outside.
I also wanted to paint my favorite way of getting around Rwanda — the motorcycle. In Africa, I would take a motorcycle over a car anytime. It’s affordable, you don’t have to wait in traffic, and you can get that fresh air and wind on your face. Those motorcycles are everywhere.
You use color in a very expressive way, too, like with the lion piece.
Africa is so colorful with all of the markets and the textiles. People really express themselves through color. It’s a great way to tell a story, and it really does affect our mood.
What’s your favorite thing about Africa?
The community — how people help each other. The diversity, too. If you go from Rwanda to another country, like Uganda, they have totally different languages and eat different foods.
How does your work integrate with the built environment, specifically Overland’s San Antonio office?
With my art in spaces like Overland, it’s an opportunity to reach more people and connect with them. I’m very proud to share more about where I come from. At an architecture firm, people also connect with each other as they build houses, offices or other structures. Then of course, art can fill those spaces so there’s not only blank walls. Art is storytelling, and what Overland does is storytelling.
As you paint, you tell stories similarly to someone who uses a blueprint to figure out how everything will work together. When you take a step back at the end, you see it clearly. There are still times when I leave sketches or drafts in the background to show the process. It makes it more interesting. Artists and architects both sketch things to come up with a vision of what something will look like. I’ve always been inspired by architecture. It’s different but very relatable.
How do you hope your work impacts others?
My hope is that it inspires freedom. It’s so easy for creatives to be hard on ourselves. ‘This is not good enough. This is not perfect.’ Before I got comfortable with sharing my art, I didn’t know if people would like it. It’s not realistic, it’s not perfect. Art should be about freedom because there’s no such thing as perfection.
Mama Africa by Gakwaya Gisa is on view at Overland’s San Antonio office through the fall. The exhibition can by viewed by appointment. For more information or to schedule a private viewing, e-mail art@overlandpartners.com. To learn more about Gakwaya Gisa, visit alaingakwaya.com.
Photography: Shannon Korta
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