WANGECHI MUTU
Mwotaji (The Dreamer), 2016
Polished bronze; hand carved Carrara marble,
on steel base
Appr. 10 x 13 x 5 ½ inches (25.4 x 33 x 14 cm)
Stone Base: 19 ¾ x 15 ¾ x 3 inches (50.1 x 40 x 7.6 cm)
Edition of 6
Co-published by Carolina Nitsch & Elisabeth Wingate
MUT-0002
Inquire

In this sculpture Mutu reimagines and reconfigures the relationship between the body, the natural world, and society. The Dreamer is a mythical self image as if existing in an alternate, parallel universe. The disembodied head with closed eyes emphasizes the importance of the dream state as an alternate possibility of being and engaging in the world. She offers a hopeful corrective to an often chaotic and violent reality. Clearly referencing modern sculptural portraiture by artists like Picasso and Brancusi who were inspired by African masks, Mutu reclaims this Western visage making it her own.