ILLUSIONS OF GRANDEUR

Illusions of Grandeur reflects a time and place suspended between memory and myth — Kenya in the 1950s and 60s, a landscape that has long stirred the imagination with its vast horizons, luminous light, and sense of untamed possibility. Each generation arrives with its own dreams, often shaped by stories of adventure, beauty, and the promise of something larger than oneself. Yet behind every dream lies another story: the quiet, enduring reality of the people and cultures already rooted in that land.

This painting explores that delicate tension — the way aspiration can shimmer like a mirage, beautiful yet slightly out of reach, and how the pursuit of grandeur, however innocent or romantic, inevitably brushes against deeper histories. Rather than making a political statement, the work invites reflection: on longing, on idealisation, on the illusions we carry with us, and on the subtle ways landscapes absorb the dreams of those who pass through them.

Oils & Acrylics on Claybord - Size: