TOP 15 – LONGLISTED 2022 Artist: Maria Birungi Namata
Title: Ma’
Medium: Fiberglass and Resin Sculpture
Size: 50cm x 32cm x 18cm
Year: 2021
Born in August 1998, Maria Birungi Namata is a full-time artist based in Kampala, Uganda. She holds a Bachelor of Art and Industrial Design degree from Kyambogo University, Uganda.
“I am passionate about advocating for social justice, especially in respect to women and the improvement of how they are perceived and treated by those around them. Through my art, I communicate freedom, co-existence, wellness, joy and beauty. I am further interested in unity amidst the diversity of the human race.” – Maria Birungi Namata
She had this to say about her entry artwork: “This mini-sculpture is an inquiry into mother-child relationships, seeking to know what drives mothers to do the things they do, how far they could go for what is theirs, examining this multi-faceted relationship, emotion ‘love’, hate in one journey mother-hood. In this sculpture, I intended to depict the warrior in a mother, who is fueled by a love that is eternal, divine to defend hers at all costs. Her torso is twisted away, as one shielding a child from attack. It was inspired by the increasing cases of child abuse specifically battering, that was disguised by some mothers as love.”
Email: Namata667@gmail.com
