“Art is love; art is family”
Kikomeko Gerald Puto was born in 1990 in Kampala, Uganda where he still lives and works to date. He is a director at Vodo Arts Society, a cohort of creatives whose works enjoy a presence all around Uganda. His work, and maybe his life is an embodiment of inner balance. His unassuming nature may often elude the fact that he is well read in art history. His experience as an artist presents him as an unformidable artist. His journey in art started to sprout when as a young boy he would accompany his mother who was herself a talented artist in carpentry and sculpting. It was thenthat art started to be his personality. As a contemporary artist, Puto has a mastery in bending monochromatic practices to incite pilgrimage into the infinite depths of designers and creators. It is with in this inviting abyss that he crafts abstract
aesthetics, the kind that will satisfy you yet leave you wanting. He creates a playful tease in his works as he imbues the non-color with just enough color to exalt a depth and intensity that inspires devotion from the audience. Puto is a people person. He will often be met downtown interacting with artisans with whom he has created a family and network. Some of his works use raw materials scouted from downtown Kampala to create minimal yet refined mosaic like assemblages of burnt oil drums.
Then there are times when he creates larger sculptural arrangements of carbonized oil drums which drums, he obtains from road constructions. Puto’s eccentricity in art often blurs the lines between drawing, painting, sculpture and installation. To him nothing is too outlandish, everything presents an opportunity to create art. He uses the world around him to create unexpected beauty. Puto’s work and even his very nature depicts a powerful metaphor for the cycle of life that has further inspired him to expand his exploration to include the fourth dimension of time. His works are unapologetic, unashamed and with in them there is a concealed freedom that humans often long for. Some of his latest works crystallizes random elemental gestures, which he practices before hand with India ink on paper, into thick layers of translucent acrylic medium resembling wax. As a director at Vodo arts, Puto has also extended his altruistic persona to be an agent of social impact. Vodo arts has produced works of murals that carry messages on mental health and intentionally influence conversations on mental health. As an artist, Puto values the wellbeing of fellow creatives and is actively using his artistic works to inspire hope. Because after all, “art is love; art is family.