On Knowing, Intention and Getting Lost with Derrick Ibalai.

Rap verses and dialogue in Quentin Tarantino movies are major influences on Derrick Ibalai’s work as an artist Derrick is a Kenyan Artist based in Nairobi an Architect by profession Derrick’s art focuses on themes like mental health, identity, spirit and culture. 

Could you tell me about yourself? 

My name is Derrick Ibalai. I am a creative, I express myself through various mediums; sculpture, painting, design, film and I explore themes of identity, spirit, culture and heritage. I'm usually hooked by the question of being an African in an age where our identity has picked up a lot of influences, and it is no longer concentrated or solid. Even the language we are using right now, our names, and the way we dress are different, so that is something that troubles me a lot, and I just try to imagine whether we can go back or build something new. 

That is interesting. When did you start creating art? 

I think it was my favourite pastime when I was five or six years old. I drew stickman stick figures, I also drew comics about Nairobi life, we call it Matwana culture. Like our public transport; people call them party buses, we call them Turtles. I think that's where it all began. 

Did you study art in University or are you a self-taught artist? 

I studied art and mosaics in high school. I did extensive study of art in high school, but the rest has been my journey of trying new things. 

What would you study in University if you didn't study art? 

I studied Landscape Architecture. 

Do you still practice architecture today or is it just something you studied? 

Right now I think it's just something I studied, because I don't really engage much. What I see it as, is that it teaches critical thinking. You find a way to juggle your thoughts and things one way or the other. I feel it has really impacted me in the way I approach my creative process and create art. It is all in the mind. 

How has your background and culture shaped the way you create? I remember you said as a child you used to do designs and draw daily Nairobi urban life, so how did your culture and background shape the way you create today? 

A lot of my work is figurative expressions of the body. I grew up with Walt Disney animations; Snow white, Beauty and the Beast, 2d animations of those years. That's where I remember I first tried to draw the human in a figurative form because I loved animation. That's the background that laid the foundation to do figurative art, but I'll also say interacting with other creatives and artists. I grew up knowing that being an artist is drawing caricatures in the newspapers and magazines, but then there was this time I walked into the studio of an artist who did life-sized oil paintings and that opened a new world for me. That was the first time I interacted with paintings, and I realised there's so much more to say than I had in mind.

That's good. Do you consider yourself an African artist or simply an artist who happens to be an African? 

I try to be an African artist but most days I feel like an artist who is African, because most people have outgrown interest in West African art because it is rooted in culture and history. When you interact with things like Benin Bronzes, the masks, the West African masks, they are rooted in African identity.  On my end, I try to know much of that so that I can imitate or try to be part of the continuity of something that is African culture, traditions and beliefs but I don't have much information about that so I feel like an artist who is African. 

Do you think the difference is significant? Do you think there is an important difference between being an African artist and an Artist that happens to be African? 

I think there's a difference. There's a community of Africans in America, I think in the Islands. They went there during the slave trade but they are still deeply rooted in their African culture, the music, the language, the beliefs. That got me thinking that there are still possibilities that you can be African or someone who appears to be African. I think it's all rooted in knowledge and information. That's the world that we live in. 

For the next question, I was curious about you saying our culture is getting diluted, so what are your thoughts on that? 

As much as the culture is being diluted by foreign influences, it's also an opportunity for a new identity to emerge amongst us as Africans. And as artists that's where we come in, our role is to lead our society and help the community have the social consciousness necessary for the evolution into a new identity. So when we document the times and express ourselves and the community in our work, we're playing our role in the process of establishing a new identity.

What does the creative process look like? From idea to finished piece? 

I've come to learn that the creative process is abnormal, it's not a very short process. Sometimes it is just random sketches then it slowly builds up, and the idea becomes sharper in my imagination. That's basically my creative process. That's how I walk through it.

Do you have a particular medium that you prefer?? Because I went through your portfolio and I noticed that you do a lot of oil paintings or let me see acrylic or powder paintings, but is there a particular medium that you prefer?

No, I prefer them for different things. I love ink on paper, I think that's usually my first thought for everything but I also use the other mediums, acrylic, I really love it on paper.  That's what I use for sketches most of the time. So yeah I would say that's my go-to medium. 

Is there any particular reason why that's your go-to medium? 

The markings from ink on paper are very distinct, precise and full of character. Have you heard the sound of scratches when you paint on paper? 

Yes. 

All that is the experience of ink on paper. It's something different.

You mentioned that you are more drawn to the ink on paper medium, but are there any other particular materials, symbols, or recurring elements that you are drawn to? 

This is not just for your creative process, that's when you draw or when you are making sketches, but in general. Elements or materials that inspire you, and you also like working with?  Flowers. I love flowers because they are beautiful, and second, they are more like a spiritual feature. They have a creative spirit in them. I also tend to go towards rocks, I just like the way they look. I can say those are the other mediums that really pop up in my work. 

Those are huge contrasts, because rocks are typically plain-looking compared to flowers. Rocks can be a bit unique-looking, but flowers usually have more distinct looks. 

A Sunflower completely looks different from a Roseflower, a Roseflower is completely different from a Tulip. But most rocks, even igneous, or the other kinds of rocks still look quite similar, they still have the same kind of design, the same kind of shape. That's very interesting, I've actually never heard any artist tell me that they draw inspiration from flowers and rocks before so that's a first. 

They look good together. 

They do actually. With landscaping, people usually fill flower beds with gravel and then they plant flowers, so there are usually rose bushes or flower bushes growing out of gravel-covered soil. And they usually look really good.  So what part of the creative process feels most natural to you, and what part is the most difficult? 

The sketches; the time when I do the sketches feels more natural. There is this debate I usually have with my sketches, like is this the final piece? Are all sketches artworks on their own? So when it comes to transferring sketches to a painting, doing that is hard. I have a lot of sketches that don't match up with the paintings, because sometimes the painting becomes something different when it's done, sometimes it's also kind of a hassle. So you can say that's the hardest bit.

Is there anything you do to make the process easier? 

Yes. The last project I decided to work with a constraint, which was how long I'm working on a piece, and working with a constraint kind of clears up the grey areas. That is what I do to make the process a lot easier. 

What themes or questions are you most interested in exploring right now? You told me when you were younger, you used to draw pictures that were a reflection of everyday urban life, but what themes are you interested in exploring right now?

Spirituality. The concepts and philosophies of spiritualities that we have in Africa compared to other regions like Asia, Europe, and the Americas. I started to pick some similarities, because everything happens in the spiritual. All the things that happen in the physical are just a result of the spiritual. That's the topic I'm really interested in right now, and I've been doing some research on it just to get to understand.

While you were answering I just realised that I asked about things you are exploring right now but I'm also curious to know what themes you've explored in your career as an artist? What themes have you explored so far? 

Mental health. Mental health has been one. Then also heritage. You know in Africa, collectively our mental health is deteriorating compared to our ancestors years ago, and it's not that we had a special focus on our mental health and well-being those years. 

I think it's in how we lived those times. We lived in nature, we took care of trees, we took care of the river, we were part of nature and we connected to nature, and that in a way took care of our mental health compared to right now where we have secluded ourselves, we don't take care for the trees, we don't take care of the environment, we are kind of cutting ourselves off nature.

We took care of nature not because we had awareness campaigns on it, but it was part of our lifestyle as Africans; we live with nature in peace, and that's a part of our identity which kind of connects. Like right now if I work on the streets with trash in my hand I can easily throw it wherever because everyone else is doing it, but if it was in my identity that it is something that should not be thrown in the environment it becomes very easy because the rest will be sorted out.

So mental health is a keen interest because when I create art it takes care of my mental health, helps me calm down and go deeper in my soul searching.

Moving from artwork that is significant to you, how do you balance personal expression with audience interpretation? For audiences are not just the people that see your work but also curators, galleries and people like that? 

I interact with the audience mostly after. I get feedback on what they think about a piece, what they think it's saying, what they love about the structure, aesthetic, and presentation. I take that as feedback which helps me, because I'm also interacting with the artwork, I also have my interpretation, my own preferences, and when interacting with the piece it keeps me involved, and keeps the audience involved and it feeds into each other, because we are all experiencing the art so we play a part in it.

Even in the process of creation, you create around people and with people. You can look at it that shows the art is taking a life of its own as well, coming alive, a life interacting with another form of life. I don't know if that answers your question.

It does actually. I love the fact that you said it's a life interacting with another form of life, so it's not just you creating this thing and people are just looking at it, it's an interaction. You used the perfect word when referring to it. Speaking of galleries and curators, as an artist which do you think has been more beneficial in your practice of art? Working with galleries and curators; which is the traditional route, or promoting your art by yourself on social media? 

I would say it's hard to really pick one for me, because when I started working professionally, I was learning how to navigate the art market, who to work with for shows, what to do when you want things to happen, to reach the collectors, to reach a specific audience, and interaction with galleries really shaped me in how I interact with other professionals in the art market, with other artists, curators, collectors, journalists.

I still work with them, though I've slowed down on that engagement because I also had to drop back and create within my space, and try to build an ecosystem around my art which includes social media and private collectors, but galleries are still involved, because you find yourself working with the same curators for shows. When you show up with galleries, you also become part of that community and people who frequent the gallery get to know you, get to know your work and interact with you. So I think it is all one big ecosystem that is connected, and you just have to be part of it because in the art market you cannot work in seclusion.

Would you say any sort of promotion is better over the other for an artist? Is any form of promotion better than the other, so do you think that promoting on social media is better than the galleries and curators promoting your artwork? 

I think it is necessary, but it also depends on what you are trying to achieve, because social media is the main thing right now, it's where you reach people, where people reach you. So it is kind of necessary, it is like an address on the internet where people can visit you anytime they wish, so it makes it easier for people to find you. I think that's the way that makes it better, because you can reach 50,000 or a million people in no time on social media. But galleries and exhibitions can only show to 300,000 people in a month. Social media has no limits, it is unlimited, you can do so much, you can sell, you can build a community and you can do anything on social media, and in that way it kind of makes it necessary and really good for artists to try and engage with or prioritise it in their work.

So what is it like creating art in Nairobi? What's the art market like in Nairobi? I'm curious about that. 

It is in its infant state, it is still growing, it has not reached maturity yet, but we have come a long way throughout the years, with a lot of sales in the market. According to how I see it, we are lagging a little behind compared to the West African and South African markets. I was looking at the auctions, and we're still lagging, and definitely I feel some of our value is untapped.

There's value but it is yet to be tapped into to contribute to the economy of the region. I cannot really say much about that because I'm also trying to understand the art market right now with other professionals, but I would say it's not yet mature or has reached its full potential.

Do you have any non-artist influences that you draw inspiration from? Or non-art influences like music, films? 

Yes, there is Jean-Michel Basquiat. I really love just looking at his story as an artist, why he created, and how he lived, and how the world interacted with him. His art is also very peculiar, it's very intriguing to look at in the way it's expressive and doesn't fit in a box. 

That's something that really inspires me to go beyond my work.  For music, I listen to a lot of music to get inspiration. It makes me imagine, I really love African music. Hip Hop is another very expressive form of music. I like to say hip hop can paint a picture of how society is without you visiting or interacting with it. And films, I love films, my favourite films are like Quentin Tarantino, the way they are full of dialogue, and they immerse you in a way that lets you sit and experience that moment. I just love those films. I would say that's what I can put out there for now. 

What does success look like for you as an artist? 

Success for me as an artist would be for my art to have had an impact on people's lives and people's ideas and thoughts. I feel like I would be really successful if my art were able to do that.

What project are you working on currently? 

Currently, I'm working on an interdisciplinary album called KUJUA NIA NA KUPOTEA NJIA that's Swahili, for knowing, intention and getting lost. It sounds weird in English but in Swahili, KUJUA NIA NA KUPOTEA NJIA is a project where I'm exploring identity, and exploring expression that is free spirit but deeply rooted in intention, and the intention is knowing yourself, knowing who you are, having a strong grasp on your identity as a person, identity as a community and a people.

That's what I'm working on right now, so it is interdisciplinary in the sense of exploring this subject but through various mediums, film, music. I have a feeling it will take a long while before it's done, I'm currently working on the paintings and we'll be seeing more of them in the coming weeks.

My last question would be do you have a message to emerging African artists? 

Keep creating, keep connecting, keep collaborating. Keep learning, trying new things, it doesn't stop, it goes on and on.