Donald Wasswa’s multidisciplinary practice explores processes of social and environmental transformation, influences of science and technology, and the changing nature of communication in contemporary societies. Spontaneous encounters with natural or found objects shape his research, with these objects, claimed as art materials, becoming carriers of memories and places. Wasswa’s objects suffer various forms of interference by carving, assembling and arranging, resulting in sculptural forms, three-dimensional paintings and installations. Through this process of material transformation, Wasswa imagines the secret lives of man-made objects and how they might in turn determine future humans.
Wasswa studied Sculpture at Kyambogo University. He has participated in solo and group exhibitions in Uganda and internationally, including East African Encounters at Cromwell Place, London (2021); Degenerative Evolution of the Living at Absa Art Gallery, Johannesburg (2018); To Live Is to Become at Afriart Gallery, Kampala (2017); and Zikunta, Kampala (2016).
In 2019, Wasswa was selected to participate in the Ouagadougou Sculpture Biennial and exhibited at the 1–54 Contemporary African Art Fair, London. He returned to 1–54 in 2022 and also exhibited at Untitled Miami Art Fair with Steve Turner Gallery. He was the recipient of the Merit Award in the Absa L’Atelier competition (2016). In 2025, he showed at the 1–54 Contemporary African Art Fair, London, with Circle Art Gallery.
His work is part of the ARAK Collection. Press coverage includes Donald Wasswa’s Delicate Wooden Creatures Emerge from a Speculative Future, Colossal (2025). Wasswa is currently based in Kampala, where he is the founder and proprietor of Artpunch Studio.
