Evolving from a group of 3 young artists that were frustrated at the limitations of commercial mural work, the three registered an entity to simply meet practical needs such as working space and storage. Brush Tu went on to become much more than these artists originally imagined. Over time it evolved into a growing collective driven by a shared spirit of problem solving and collaboration, expanding its membership and influence within the local art community. The orignial three grew to five with the addition Waweru Gichuhi and Elias Mung’ora, then six when a master joined his students; the former BIFA principal, Kimani Ngaru, who had previously taught Michael Musyoka and David Thuku.
In 2016 when approached with the opportunity for a grant, they weaved a program that they would have wished for themselves. AIRBRUSH 1 was designed as a residency program to facilitate an international artist exchange at the Brush Tu Studio where these artists could share skills with local artists and the community. Workshops by experienced artists were run concurrently to support emerging artists. Along with the artist exchange and workshop progarms, Brush Tu provided residency spaces for local artists, which further facilitated the increase in its membership. Lincoln Mwangi, Abdul Kipruto, Peteros Ndunde and Emmaus Kimani became members around this period, followed by Sebawali Sio and BushKimani Moira.
Brush Tu continued to support artists through challenging periods, including Covid 19, with assistance from a grant from The African Arts Trust (TAAT) in 2020. In 2022 they were awarded the HEVA x British Council grant that enabled them to expand their programming through the formation of AIRBRUSH 2. Despite starting in 2013 as an independent studio with minimal external funding, it has had sustained growth and developed strong internal systems over the past 14 years.
Perhaps part of its successes include the platforming of artists and curator(s) like Nelson Ijakaa Imo, Nicholas Odhiambo Mboya, Angela Muritu, who went on to pursue further studies and expand their practices abroad. Some artists went on to become the second generation of Brush Tu artists, such as Sebawali and Bush Kimani. Others went on to form their own collectives like Lincoln Mwangi and Abdul Kipruto, who are now also part of Kairos Futura. Brush Tu seems to function as an incubator, facilitating the growth of its members. Now that many of the original members have developed and moved away from the primary studio, the space has opened up for younger artists such as Anthony Mega, Joe Mbiyu, Joseph Muturi, Husna Nyathira and others who have joined as interns from various art institutions from the region.
For this exhibition we feature works by full members, as well as artists who have become associated with the collective over time. As we reflect on what collectives can be, we present works by: S.W. Gatugi, Munene Kariithi, Elias Mung’ora, Terrence Musekiwa, Joseph Muturi, Lincoln Mwangi, Peteros Ndunde, Antony Mega Ng’ang’a, Joseph Mbiyu Ng’ang’a, Kimani Ngaru, Margaret Ngigi, Husna Nyathira, Alfred Sila, Sebawali Sio, Rachel Tamara and Victor Wathithi. text by Emmaus Kimani.
Artist biographies below
Rachel Tamara is a cross-disciplinary creative born on 4th April, 2003 based in Nairobi, Kenya. Her disciplines include painting, photography, writing, film production, creative and art direction, editorial makeup and styling, all of which intertwine in various degrees in her projects. Tamara’s work explores a variety of topics including love,politics, feminism, death,fear, among others, all of which are reflections based on her perceptions and general experiences navigating life.Tamara’s work often explores typically shunned topics,shedding light on the grotesque,taboo and uncomfortable truths in search of deeper meaning,accountability and solution. She does so through storytelling,using her various disciplines as vehicles to convey the stories.
She is part of BrushTu Artist Collective through which she has exhibited her paintings at their premises. She is a mentee and artist assistant to Michael Musyoka who has immensely aided her in learning how to find and finetune her artistic voice as well as navigate the creative industry on a professional scale. She is affiliated with Contemporary Image Centre, as one of the featured artists where she screened her first short film and photography series. She is continually growing within her craft and exploring new disciplines as well reimagining the ones she possesses.
S.W. Gatugi (Kenyan b. 1994)Born and raised in Nairobi, Shirlene Wanjiku Gatugi (S.w. Gatugi) is a nurse’s assistant whose compassion and care is reflected in her work. Having previously worked at a hospice, she loves to play with colors which help people deal with their emotions by healing from past and present traumas.
Using intuitive techniques and a restrained palette, she creates compositions that emphasize balance, contrast, and stillness. Her artistic practice is rooted in personal reflection, translating inner emotional experiences into quiet, visual forms. Gatugi continues to develop a bodies of work that invite viewers to engage with art in a reflective and meditative way, offering moments of calm and introspection through abstraction.
Elias Mung’ora (Kenyan b. 1992)“Born in Nyeri, Elias Mung’ora initially studied real estate and property management before changing course to pursue a career as an artist. He works predominantly in painting, combining it with other mediums such as drawing and photo collage. His practice is a tool with which to explore the complex and multiple histories of his home country with a specific interest in its colonial history. An important focus of his practice has been colonial land policies which led to indigenous communities losing their land related rights and practices, a factor which continues to shape contemporary realities.
Lately, he has broadened his approach by researching the work of early Scottish Christian Missionaries in East Africa, in a bid to understand their role in the colonisation project. Mung’ora has been an active member of Brush Tu Artist Studio since 2015. He was an Absa L’Atelier finalist in 2017 and has participated in exhibitions in Kenya, South Africa, Italy, the USA, and France. He is currently a student of anthropology at the University of Nairobi.“
Peteros Ndunde (Kenyan b. 1996)Peteros’ work is derived from simple daily life activities of individuals which form greater more complex societal contexts. As far and unknown as the future may be, we have a chance to see it and position ourselves accordingly in order to receive it. The path to such a reception is often sacrifice, with each step towards one’s desired future being the shedding off of once valued parts of oneself, to make room for one’s desires.
Lincoln Mwangi (Kenyan b. 1996)Lincoln Mwangi is a painter and installation artist exploring human behavior and societal narratives through his work. He is member of brush tu collective and a founding member at Kairos Futura, an art and design futurist organization.
Joseph Mbiyu Ng’ang’a (Kenyan b. 1993)Joseph Mbiyu Ng’ang’a is a Kenyan Visual Artist currently based at Brush tu Art Studio, an Artists’ collective located in Buruburu eastlands, Nairobi County. He studied at the Buruburu Institute of Fine Arts (BIFA) from 2013 to 2015 where He earned His Diploma in Fine Arts, Drawing and Painting category. He has a twin brother who is also a Visual artist and part of the same collective.
“In recent years, I have been experimenting with and using non-conventional art media such as rusted iron sheets(mabati) together with old or aged wooden veneers and planks in creating art pieces that express my ideas on the “Human condition”. In a creative way, I meticulously fashion and merge these materials in form of collage, and in some occasions apply acid on chosen surfaces depending on what effects I want to achieve. This process creates unique abstract effects, and together with using surrealism or figurative styles, the final product is usually an intriguing art piece that invites, engages and arouses curiosity in the viewer to find meaning or the ultimate message behind it.”
Antony Mega Ng’ang’a (Kenyan b. 1993)Antony Mega Ng’ang’a a twin, whose brother is also an artist grew up in Nairobi with his interest in art starting from a young age when he started drawing early on as a hobby. After finishing secondary school, he enrolled in the Buruburu Institute of Fine Arts and obtained a diploma in fine arts. After college, Antony participated in art competitions and created murals. He has gone on to participate in various exhibitions, art residency and art projects
“My work combines abstract and surrealism to bring out the beauty in nature, to explore themes of time, change, mysteries and knowledge.The approach to creating the artworks is usually random, using doodles and scribbles to bring out the artwork. The artwork organically grows through the scribbling and doodling process. An urge or feeling of wanting to do something different, to explore creativity and the creative process, and an inspiration from nature are my greatest drive.”
Husna Nyathira Ismail (Kenyan b. 1995)Husna Nyathira Ismail is a Nairobi-based multidisciplinary artist and member of Brush Tu Art Studio. Her practice includes design, illustration, XR art, and mixed media explorations such as oil painting, cyanotypes, anthotypes, and watercolor. Currently, she is deeply engaged in mixed media explorations, including oil painting, cyanotypes, anthotypes, and watercolor. Guided by a spirit of experimentation, Husna uses each medium as an opportunity to develop new techniques and expand the possibilities of visual expression. Through this, Husna envisions creating impactful bodies of work that push boundaries while inviting audiences into transformative, multi-sensory experiences.
Work statement: These exploration of cyanotype with mixed media was inspired by a need to reconnect with nature, its simplicity and the healing and peace it brings. The works are introspective (the self portraits especially) to depict the relationship with myself and the environment around me. I find that being among the trees, sitting in the grass soaking in some sun or just being in a body of water fuels and rejuvenates me.
Observing nature has also influenced my use of flower and plant motifs. I feel like we are one with nature and we experience all that is; birth, growth and even death and that is why it is very important to have a relationship with the environment around us
Victor Wathithi (Kenyan b. 1999)Wathithi is a fine artist based in Nairobi with works explore everyday still-life objects in relation to the fluidity of perspective, specifically focusing on urban life as well as the distorted lens of memory. By utilizing dramatic vanishing points, Wathithi challenges the viewer to look beyond the surface and reconsider the way they perceive everyday objects and people in their natural world. He challenges traditional viewing of angles to reveal new narratives within everyday scenes. His current works investigate how environment and memory alter subjective perception, transforming familiar imagery into sharp architectural commentary images.
Margaret Njeri Ngigi (Kenyan b. 1996)Margaret Njeri Ngigi is a visual artist, photographer, and filmmaker based in Kenya. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Film Production and Directing from the United States International University of Africa. Practicing photography since 2015, she has received accolades such as the 2022 East African Photography Awards and a nomination for the 2020 Photo London Emerging Photographer of the Year. Her work has been exhibited at international art fairs like Photo Basel and Photo London, represented by galleries such as AKKA Project. She has participated in artist residencies across East Africa such as Her Story in Ethiopia. She has been featured in major museum exhibitions, such as Afrotopia in Warsaw, Poland. Her solo exhibitions include Murky Waters in London and Forever Is Not Ours at One Off Contemporary Gallery.
Margaret considers her practice a personal and reflective archive, functioning as a visual diary of her evolving identity and lived experiences. Her work explores the complexities of growing up, transitions into adulthood and womanhood, and the emotional weight of impermanence as shaped by social, cultural, and historical contexts. Engaging with themes of womanhood, collective fatigue, memory, and mortality, her practice reflects how intimate, embodied experiences intersect with broader political and societal realities. She is particularly drawn to moments of transition, overwhelm, and quiet resilience, using vulnerability as a site of strength and endurance. Previous works such as Mke Mwema examine marriage as a social construct, while Murky Waters interrogates women’s roles within society. Through her work, she invites viewers to reflect on their own journeys and the fragile, ever-shifting nature of life.
Munene Kariithi (Kenyan b. 1990)Munene Kariithi interest in art was evident while growing up as he had always admired murals in butcheries and hotels while growing up. He studied computer information systems in school but later shifted to visual art. His artistic journey has involved learning, the internet, other artist, workshops, research and experimentation. He primarily works with acrylic but with other mediums as well to better articulate the conceptual demand of each project.
Munene’s work serves as commentary on the contemporary society, exploring themes such as migration, movements, the impact of technology, socio-political dynamics, and inequality.
He has exhibited in well-known establishments locally, including a solo exhibition at One Off gallery and his work has been shown in Europe.
Joseph Muturi (Kenyan b. 1991)Joseph Muturi is an artist living and working in Nairobi, Kenya who working primarily in acrylics and charcoal. His work is inspired by behavioural patterns, a process which mainly unfolds through the observation of social relations, including his own. His other interests include woodcarving, comic writing, and merchandise design.
“Addiction is just about it, and the feeling of self erosion with your own actions. Heavily influenced by my experience quiting cigarettes but don’t use that in the description if it’s chosen. The piece ‘Change’ is about the process, hence its name as well. The characters represent the ‘comfortable’ past customs and culture which also has a hint of corruption with black but insists on a performative white. The change is represented by a mosquito-esque insect to infer an annoyance that needs to be dealt with and each perspective has a solution. The scary future is represented by a bionic/augmented person to represent the collective panic in history with the discovery/ creation of a new technology then the later adoption of said technology if found useful”
Sebawali Sio (Kenyan b. 1986)Sebawali Sio is a Kenyan artist whose practice moves between painting and sculpture, guided by an intuitive dialogue with material, form, and meaning. Beginning on watercolour paper and canvas, her work gradually dissolved into three dimensions; into gypsum, fibreglass, resin, wood, plaster of Paris, and glass, each medium offering its own language and temperament.
At the centre of everything she makes is water. Not as decoration, but as the governing intelligence of her practice, subject, metaphor, and method simultaneously. Water carves without force, holds memory, purifies without instruction, and finds its way through every obstacle it encounters. Sio’s engagement with water extends beyond the studio into active research on natural purification processes, an inquiry that has made her scientific curiosity and artistic instinct inseparable. Organic forms recur throughout her work, the branching intelligence of slime moulds, the ripple of moving water, the cyclical strength of the feminine spirit, each a quiet argument for how the world is actually organised: in networks, rhythms, and returns.
Her work has been exhibited internationally in Milan, Warsaw, London, and Diani, with her primary exhibition history in Nairobi, Kenya. In 2023 she held her debut solo exhibition at One Off Gallery, Nairobi. In 2024 she participated in Your Grief Belongs to You and It Can Be So, So Pretty at Galleria Objets, London, a five-artist international show exploring grief across cultural experience. In 2025, she was selected as one of eight commissioned Nairobi artists for The Atlas of Uncertainty, a landmark interdisciplinary project by the Oxford/Wits Mobility Governance Lab and Wits University’s African Centre for Migration & Society, whose travelling exhibition opened at Origins Centre, Wits University, Johannesburg in April 2026.
Alfred Sila (Kenyan b. 1993)Alfred Sila Mwake has a diploma in fine art (painting) at buruburu institute of fine art (BIFA). Sila was a resident artist at Brush Tu’s AIRBRUSH incubation program and is known for making sculpture and mixed media from recycling materials and has exhibited numerously including at Circle Art Gallery’s 2017 stranger times exhibition.
In his latest works, Sila captures moments that tell of processes, relating this to current social political situations in his local area and the country. A heavily worn out knife, needle like now, a completely worn out chopping board, finally done being used, uprooted coffee trunks and other worn out used objects that have been thrown away is part of his collection intended to show how we use each other until we can’t anymore. He sources the knives, chopping boards and other objects and attempts to trace their energy, releases and gains over their lifespan.
Kimani Ngaru (Kenyan b. 1971)Kimani Ngaru is an acclaimed sculptor and educator with a B. ED in fine arts from 1995. His achievements include multiple awards like the on-line jury, poster for tomorrow design competition and prominent commissions including; sculpture celebrating Kenya’s athletic prowess at the JKIA (2016), relief sculptures depicting lady justice as a Turkana woman (2015), portrait bursts of Chief Justice office holders in Kenya since independence at the Judicial Museum (2015). He has also exhibited at group exhibitions at the Goethe Institute Nairobi (2002 & 2003), and with Brush Tu numerously after.
Terrence Musekiwa (Zimbabwean b. 1990)Terrence Musekiwa comes from a long line of sculptors. He started carving stone at the age of five, at first helping his father, Kennedy Musekiwa, and later moving away from traditional aesthetics. He breaks the divide between traditional and contemporary. While each work begins with the familiar toil of shaping the stone, works are then fused with a myriad of found and industrial objects. His visual language wrestles with convention to simultaneously challenge and pay homage to Zimbabwean tradition. His conceptual vernacular introduces a dialogue about present-day Zimbabwe, its mechanics, politics, micro and macro trade systems, hardships and a quality of magic that permeates the personal lives of its inhabitants.
Solo exhibitions include Standing on a line, not being on either side (2017) and Coming From Where We Are Going (2019), both at Catinca Tabacaru New York; and A House in A House at hFACTOR in Lagos, Nigeria (2019). In addition, he has been included in exhibitions internationally by public and private institutions in London, Amsterdam, Paris, Mantta, Utrecht, L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, Miami, New York, Mexico City, and Harare. His work has been acquired into the permanent collections of The National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Villa Datris Foundation in France, and the US Department of State. In 2022, Musekiwa will represent Zimbabwe in the 59th Venice Biennial, and will be included in the 14th Dakar Biennale.
