The artist blends nature, fashion and science to create an elegant, race-spanning amalgam of femininity
Walk the walk…
Wangechi Mutu's 2019 figure stalks and struts, a cultural hybrid encompassing an Afrofuturist queen, samurai warrior, eco-avenger, disco diva and dominatrix. She doesn't talk, she walks the walk. You wouldn't mess.
Dressed to kill…
Her physique is a sleek entanglement of tree roots and taut flesh. As a silhouette, she might be wielding swords or whips, her feet clad in platform boots. The hair extensions that cascade from her arms are based on the sacred crowns worn by medicine women in some traditional African groups. They suggest a shaman's animal skins, or the tassels on Elvis Presley's jackets.
Image: Wangechi Mutu, She Walks, 2019
© Wangechi Mutu
Courtesy the artist and Victoria Miro, London/Venice
