Exploration of Smoke as a Medium for Painting in the Depiction of Maasai Culture in Kajiado County, Kenya.
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Date
2021
Authors
Rupante, Tobiko
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Kenyatta University
Abstract
Fumage is a smoke painting technique that some artists used in the 1930s. Despite it being an old technique, it has proven less popular in the modern art arena. In contemporary times, very few painters are still exploring the media with different techniques that could be appealing to human eyes. Although this has been used and proven to be effective at the time in other countries like South Africa, U.S.A, Canada, and Britain, based on the researcher’s survey, it has not been exploited in the Kenyan art scene. Yet its technique and usage appear compatible and potentially useful for local artists, particularly because of its usage as local material. In light of the above gap, this study examined how smoke has been utilized by artists as a medium for painting both locally and internationally to find out the widespread use of the medium by artists as well as uncover existing knowledge regarding the technique. The study explored smoke as a medium for painting through practice by carrying out a total of 672 tests, where smoke produced by an oil lamp was exposed on various conventional and non-conventional painting surfaces of sizes 5cm by 5cm. The tests were grouped into five major categories based on the: physical characteristic of smoke produced by burning three selected hydrocarbons (turpentine, kerosene, and diesel), surfaces, techniques used, a combination of colour and smoke, and preservation methods, with each category assigned a code. The data yielded from each category was analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively and the conclusion was drawn. Some of the desirable test results were used in the application on a creative project where some tangible aspects of Maasai culture were identified, collected, and analyzed through sketching then projected through smoke painting. The resultant smoke paintings confirmed the practicality of the usage of smoke in the production of work of art or as a medium of artistic expression. The outcome of this study would benefit local artists who would wish to use the medium by utilizing information that was achieved in this study concerning the medium.
Description
A Creative Project Report Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Award of the Degree of Master of Arts (Fine Art) in the School of Creative Arts, Film and Media Studies, Kenyatta University, September 2021
Keywords
Exploration, Smoke, Medium for Painting, Depiction, Maasai Culture, Kajiado County, Kenya