Photos by Michael Robinson
From left, 'Ancient Remedies' and 'First World Layer'.

Michael Robinson, Gleaner Writer

Questions have always fuelled Mazola's search for truth. A self-confessed 'revolutionary', he started out as a poet in his native Kenya, and later played the kété drum in a band. He always thought he would come to Jamaica in the capacity of a musician. It was not to be.

The great grandson of a spiritual chief, he was baptised as an Anglican and grew up in a predominantly Muslim area. He even attended the Arab Boys' Secondary School.

"When I look at religion," he opines, "I ask myself, 'What can a Muslim learn from a Christian and what can a Christian learn from a Muslim?'"

In 1996, he received an application in the mail for the Commonwealth Fellowship. He was certain it would be his ticket to Jamaica. At the time, he was living in Kibera, Africa's largest slum, teaching art to primary school students. To this day, he doesn't know who sent him the application, but the rest, as they say, is history.

Displayed in galleries

His sojourn to 'Jamrock' saw him study sculpture at the Edna Manley College as part of the fellowship. The Kenyan found he was particularly interested in welding. This stint culminated in an exhibition at Gallery Pegasus and Mazola's formal introduction to the local art scene. Since then, his work has been displayed in several galleries across the island and the globe, largely through group exhibits. Collectors have also been buying them straight off his easel.

"I like to ask questions," he says. "That's why when I do a landscape you might see boobs - because I want to provoke you. I want to provoke people to ask [questions] themselves."

His questioning has led him to create outside the fabled box. His is an art that combines unusual materials and potent concepts. Earth, feathers and buttons are just a few of the ingredients to be found in Mazola's work. With influences like Dali and Picasso, as well as the longstanding traditions of African sculpture, it's little wonder that his work has such presence and depth.

Positive spin

'Door of Return' is a painting that shows masses of people moving through a portal which references Goree Island's 'Door of No Return' off Africa's West Coast during the slave trade. The island was the final holding point for slaves to be shipped to the 'New World'. Mazola's spin on it is positive - he sees the link between present and past. "Sometimes people ask me, 'When last did you go home?' I tell them I go every day because I just go in my mind."

After 10 years of practising art in Jamaica, the man baptised Patrick Silas by the Anglican Church has evolved as a creator. His early Jamaican work was more 'romantic', he says, and collectors came to expect more of the same. But as someone who likes challenges and new ideas, change was inevitable - and necessary.

'State of Mind', his solo exhibit now on at Kingston's Mutual Life Gallery, will be a shock to those expecting a painter who depicts lovers and such delights. The show consists mostly of sculpture and mixed media pieces with enough strength of presence and confident execution to obliterate any notions of Mazola as purely a painter.

Culturally charged

His textured paintings are vibrant and conceptually charged. 'Without a State' depicts a soldier standing on a military tank, fishing in a sea of blood inside a fish tank city. He says it is about Israel and Palestine, which is "a very real issue". Most people say the Kenyan-born artist believes it is happening 'over there' and doesn't really affect them. "But we are all connected."

'Ancient Remedies' is a mixed media piece that invokes the ancient traditions of a man whose great grandfather was called a 'rainmaker'.

"My great grandfather was a shaman," he says, explaining that his ancestors were scientists who could tell that rain was on the way through observation of natural processes. They would make blood sacrifices to guard against death and sickness in the tribe in the event of heavy showers. Outsiders who didn't understand just called them 'rainmakers', but "nobody makes rain," says Mazola.

Works like 'Darfur: Fresh Breeze' and 'Half-Way Tree Hustler' evince Mazola's poignancy as social commentator, a role he was known for in Nairobi. His colourful take on contemporary life has a lyrical quality that almost makes you want to smile, despite the seriousness of the content.

Surviving as an artist in today's society, he believes, takes determination and an open mind. Since landing in Kingston, he has taken commissions and delves into the area of functional art to ensure a viable income. He sees a challenge in giving people what they want, but fully expressing himself in each piece as a challenge. "I've always liked challenges," he opines.

Mazola is proudly in touch with his roots, while expressing an upbringing rife with eclectic influences. He believes art is a way of life and is cognisant of his role as a spiritual force. His belief in the good of humanity and the connectedness of all things lies outside organised religion. For him, art is a cycle of energy and a way to transform the world. His evolution and the evolution of the work are one and the same.

"The work keeps changing," says Mazola. "To some people,it's not a good thing. They would like you to [keep doing] what sells, but I don't believe in that. I want to be free."