Ronald Mugabe

In this interview I speak with artist Ronald Mugabe.

His work is installed in the East Wing, at Somerset House, London, til 29th September 2024. He is a promising artist from Uganda.

CAROUSEL
Ronald Mugabe

MASTERPIECE III: AN ODE TO OKWUI ENWEZOR
Mutual Art

MY RUNWAY GROUP
somersethouse.whats-on

What art materials do you work with?
Canvas, Acrylic paint, brush and a Pallet knife mostly.

Are you experimental in exploring different art materials with your work?
Currently I am not experimenting or trying to explore other art materials apart from what I’ve been using, but hopefully in the near future I may try some other materials that will suit my creativity at the time. 

Describe the layout of your art studio?
I do not have an art studio, neither am I renting one. My home is my art studio, I do all my works at home. So my layout is simple; the compound space gives me a great ambiance to work.

Describe how you work within the space?
Within my compound, I only need to set up my canvas on the painting board, in a place I find comfortable within the compound. Preferably in the backyard, behind my house.

For focus some artists have bodily/spiritual practices to assist them with their work; some might exercise, some might drink coffee, water, alcohol, or juice? Some might eat specific foods, and some not eat anything at all when involved in their work. Some chain smoke to stay alert, and some might not sleep, or have very structured or unstructured sleeping patterns. Do you have any practices in the production of your work?
Well I do not have a specific practice or thing that I do, but I would say, I eat normally; breakfast, lunch and supper. I play music; I choose the kind of music that matches my mood and the vibe of the painting, but there is no specific routine practice though I play lots of music in the process.

What does your daily diet consist of?
Its mainly local food. Matooke, Rice, Beans. These are the main local dishes. Also Chai (black tea), Peanuts, and this keeps changing according to what is available.

I read that you used to carry a notebook to make sketches. Is this still part of your process?
Back then mostly when I was still a student, and in my maiden year after graduation, I used to carry a notebook to make sketches, but as my skills develop, the less I carried the notebook. So at the moment I don’t carry it. But I used to.

Can you explain the working stages – inspiration to the conception of a completed piece of art?
Most of my art work is self inspired. It is my past experience, my story, and those like me in the community I grew up in. I may not remember everything ‘to detail’, but the community still suffers the same circumstances that I went through as a child. Well there could be some improvement but the memory remains. So sometimes I take pictures as I walk through the community that I align with based on a theme I am working on or an idea I want to explore, or sometimes I think of a past situation that matches what I would like to paint. If I do not find a perfect picture on camera, I have friends I could use as models to pose for the moment. This helps me to come up with sketches from those pictures I have taken. I set up my canvas, sketch on the canvas the developed idea, and then I paint and later then I think of what name to give it; which normally takes some days to think of a perfect name.

Kojo, who is actually installing your work at Somerset House in London, and Raphael Dapaah who is your art manager and agent and is very important in connecting your work with various spaces and mediums – you have team of people working with you. Can you explain how these channels function?
Well being a painter in Uganda where my type of art is not well embraced commercially, it is a big opportunity, because they have introduced me to an international scene, especially with London. I may not have become that famous and popular, but at least my work has reached some places where art is being appreciated for its worth and well interpreted. So they have connected me to a larger base to widen my reach and development, it gives me a challenge to think more and create more, to advance with the trends worldwide and to diversify the current trends of art. In one way I get to learn how the international art business works also.

What books do you read?
Books! I am not so much of a reader, and I do not really look out for specific writers to read, no. But I so much look out for trends on social networks, mostly Instagram and X, or make research of certain topics that I need much information about, otherwise the book I read most, is the Bible.

What subjects and topics are you interested in?
It all revolves around my past experience, the current social affairs and what I would term as the political injustice in my country. When you look at most of my art pieces, they fall within my past experience, the current social affairs, my cultural and heritage, and political injustices here in Uganda.

rorschachpublication
rorschach.building.photos

.

By Joshua Phillip

.