Mutuku likes to explore new approaches in his art practice, particularly the integration of organic and man-made materials with new digital and technological processes – for the artist “any medium can be art.” Interrogating ‘what can be art’ and ‘what art can be’ is central to Mutuku’s outlook. He says “if we stay stagnant in what has already been accepted in art then we come to a point where art can die…you need to ask yourself, are you really commenting on the time that you are living in.” One result of this has been the development of Mutuku’s own signature style in which he employs the use of laser cutting – a process that is typically used for industrial manufacturing, though one that he has mastered to create his own aesthetic. The use of laser cutting, in which the laser beam destroys the surface it comes into contact with, creates an element of performance in which the act of destruction simultaneously becomes an act of creation. Though in keeping with all of Mutuku’s work the ideas involved in each piece, or series, remain equally, if not more, important than the aesthetic and material concerns – as the artist explains “beauty dies, ideas don’t.”
Mwini recently became involved with the team at Quarrylab and displayed his work in the SEE HERE exhibition. He also delivered an artist talk about his work in front of the Nottingham Trent University master’s degree students.
