Kavata Mbiti

In her works Kavata Mbiti scrutinizes what constitutes reality and continually attempts to shake the foundations of our understanding of what is real and true.
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The work Arche resembles an organ in its entirety and Höhen und Tiefen im Freien Fall is like a note resonating from this instrument or like one part of a musical score. In the case of Höhen und Tiefen im Freien Fall the wood has been painted and then finished with wax. The wax layer breaks up the surface so that the various layers of colour merge into each other almost iridescently and provide a reflective surface for the light illuminating the sculpture. Through the wax the sculpture‘s geometric forms become softer and blend into each other when seen by the observer. This means, that a subjective reality can arise in the inner eye of the viewer which is as malleable and changeable as warm wax. The work also reminds us of the legend of Icarus whose waxen wings were melted by the sound when he flew to close to it and thereby plunging to his death into the sea below. The title of the work not only refers to the heights and depths which mark our lives but explicitly to Icarus and his life‘s tragic end. The vividness of the colours, especially blue and green tones (reminiscent of the sea and algae) resembles water being struck by a sun beam from above where there is slightly oxidized reddish material. However, in the case of Arche dark, earthy shades of red are more dominant giving the work the quality of gravity.

In both works the observer‘s gaze is led in all directions symbolizing the ups and downs of life as well as uncertainty of its end - for whether existence continues after death is uncertain. Also the Ark of the Bible carries its occupants into an uncertain (but as prophesied better) future. The necessary precondition for a new and better world is the fall of the old one. Apparently the sculptor has given utopian fantasies expression here.

Dr. Maya Anna Rosalie Großmann
Skulpturenpark Waldfrieden Wuppertal, 2019

Translation: Robert Payne