BATIK ART BY LUKANDWA DOMINIC

SOLD  SOLD SOLD!!!!! The traditional dress in central region of Uganda is very interesting in terms of variation of color yet it remains with the same design. On every function in Uganda, this dress is hard to miss. I have always come up paintings showing this variety and this is my latest.

At Fairway Hotel from 1st to 16th December, 2012. Artists include Enoch Mukiibi, Ronnie Tindi, Lukandwa Dominic, M Weazher, Wasswa Katongole and David Kibuuka. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Aftermath-of-Ugandan-Art-After-50-Years/343282239104354

It was great for me to participate in the annual fundraiser exhibition for Rotary Club of Muyenga. I was able to meet many artists including Uganda's 'masters' who have pioneered the batik art movement since the 60's. These included Mr Wasswa Katongole and David Kibuuka who has been doing batik art since early 80's and is currently doing a good job of uniting artists from a variety of media.

                                                      TITLE: SHARING KNOWLEDGE 3 (2012)                                                        SIZE: 34 X 15 INCHES                                                  ...

This new work will be among the new batik paintings on show at the Nov 24/25 at Hotel Africana Rotary International Art Exhibition. It was an inspiration I got after visiting Nakasero fruit market in Kampala. The area is always busy especially in the morning with farmers selling off their fruits and foodstuff to traders. There are two houses which accomodate a large number of the stalls. The rest of the activities are carried out in open air outside these 2 houses. This work shows you what you see immediately after entering one of the 2 fruit market houses, they are all similar. What captivated me most was the perspective made by row of pillars that support the building. The actual color of these in the market is fire-engine red. The other day I went back to the market after completing this work and I was so amazed by the scene, it felt like I was literally walking inside my painting.

You are all welcome in this exciting exhibition by Uganda's leading artists including Lukandwa Dominic, David Kibuuka, Wasswa Katongole, Saadi Lukwago, Christopher Bigomba, Enoch Mukiibi and Ismael Ddamba in Hotel Africana 24/25 Nov, 2012. Part of the proceeds will go to Rotary.

In this picture, the lake remains visible through the palm trees. I wanted to bring out the golden effect of a sunset on the water and on the nearby vegetation. The contrast brought in by the black palm trees against a bright sunset, makes this batik one of my best so far.

This new work shows a deeper expression of the contemporary African motif that I've been practicing in black and white for the past 10 years or so. I started with a series of long batiks in black and white mostly of singular women doing all sorts of domestic activities and always carrying something on their heads.  In this picture it's a picture of a women meeting each with a distinct motif. Faces are hidden to let the designs do the expression.

Title: USED AND DUMPED (2012) Size: 90x90 cm Medium: Batik Art on cotton fabric Sold (Reproductions accepted on order) Precious machines and memories are crashed together at yards like these. I asked myself as I did this batik that how did all these cars end up like this. Yet a few years earlier they had played an important role in helping owners reach in time for that important date, interview, birthday celebration etc. Of course a big number of these are accident cars that had taken lives and everyone wants to get rid of them.

The introduction ceremony (traditional wedding) from Buganda region in Central Uganda is a very interesting  occasion. The groom brings his friends and family to be introduced to the family of the bride. At the beginning of the function, they line up outside the bride's home ready to be allowed inside, headed by a usually comical speaker at the front of the line. The women put on colorful traditional dresses locally known as busuuti and the men put on jackets on a traditional gown known as kanzu. A few moments later after the groom is accepted, the groom's side goes outside again to come back with basket-fulls of gifts ranging from fruits, furniture, fabric material to even cars.

Title: The Whirlwind Size: 90x90 inches (3ftx3ft) Medium: Batik Art on cotton fabric Fish remains on top of my subjects lately and in this busy work, a school of fish runs in a whirlwind motion. The size is huge by my standards because a UK collector wanted 4 pieces of this size and I gave it a try. This piece is available both in limited edition print and original, send me an email if you are interested.

This batik 'STREAMING THROUGH THE FOREST' shows the depth of my new technique. I have always liked detail and remembering the thick forests where we collected firewood during chilhood, I decided to try something like this. These forests always had glittering fresh water streams passing through amongst the tall trees. Unfortunately, many of these forests have been cleared for farmlands. This is why art is so special that you can recreate or at least try to receate something that has been lost.

This is a piece I did from a photo given to me by my friend Karl Bucholz showing a landing site in Masaka.

This batik painting titled Murchison Falls (2012) was inspired by the need to do a Ugandan tourist attraction this year when the country is celebrating 50 years of independence. I used the tooth brush in carefully spreading the wax to bring out the splashes effect, forest cover.

This batik was done on tissue paper and I must confess that this is one of the most senstive materials I've come across so far. Wax helps to keep the tender strips of tissue together. The dyes cannot be applied using brush as it might tear the tissues but with small pieces torn from a foam matress. The usual purpose of ironing is to remove wax but I don't want it removed because it holds the tissues together. So what do I do? I use ironing to spread the wax throughout the painting and leave about 80% of the wax and this is the result.

This new interesting batik shows a couple of common type of kingfishers called GREY HEADED KINGFISHERS. These little birds usually appear in pairs in Ugandan forested areas and swamps. I have also done the tied, woodland and pygimy kingfishers. I'll post here when these projects are completed. 

  This is a new batik titled DEEP IN THE WOODS (2012) measuring 17x11 inches. Recently I was researching into the different birds in our area and came across a 'noisy' tree, full of busy weaver birds and their nests. It was an amazing sight, birds were doing many activities ranging from building, dismantling nests to mere singing and fighting. I also realised that we have about 4 types of weaver birds in our area many of them in the forested area of the village. I'll try to do another batik or two of the weaver birds. Actually this is the first bird batik that I've ever done. To buy this original send me an email on info.dominicbatiks@gmail.com In Uganda, buy this and other prints by Dominic from Mish Mash, 28 Acacia Avenue. Buy prints online at  http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/lukandwa-dominic.html

This new batik tittled STARING OUT (2012) is a result of my recent experimentation on various material with cotton. The problem was that most of the materials I tried could not dye. This particular work is a combination of cotton on cotton. In painting with acrylic or oil, collage is quite simple because the paint works as a gluing substance for the added piece. But in the case of batik, needlework seemed to be the only way of attachment leading to threads to form fantastic tones in the batik. I've always been fascinated by collage done on canvas with aclyric and backcloth. There's a way that one can feel the canvas with a simple touch. However, most batiks (ones I have ever seen) are always on a flat material that provided little or no chance of feeling the texture. There's threadwork on cotton and that is all there is. This has always bored me and this experiment was intended to find new ways of escaping this boredom. I intend to paint a few more 'collaged'...

This is the latest from BUTTERFLY JOURNEYS series. The idea is to have a set of 10 pieces of these 3 monarch butterflies in different colors and backgrounds. The size is 16x16 inches. NOT FOR SALE.

Kampala old taxi park is one of the two taxi parks, the other one being the new taxi park in the Ugandan capital. The two parks accommodate more than 10,000 Toyota Hiace taxis that transport up to 1 million passengers daily. These mostly white taxis with a blue dotted stripe around them are a common sight on Ugandan roads. When you enter into into the taxi park, you are immediately surrounded by a seemingly confused way that that these 14 passenger taxis are parked. This reality makes it difficult for people to maneuver around the park. When the taxi fills up, the drivers have a way of driving through the maze as they shout insults at each other. This batik (the last picture shows an unfinished stage) tries to bring out a small insight into what takes place in Kampala's transport system. Watch out for the last pictures when it's finished.

This batik was meant to add freshness to my batik art. Instead of the usual cow-hide skin for the Ugandan drum, I intentionally put them in clothing for a modern look. The different design in the clothing is for the different sound from each drum. The camouflage background and strips of curtain provide a little hint to hip hop life of a modern youth. This painting bridges the gap between modern and classical lifestyles in Uganda and Africa.

Note: This photo is only half of the whole batik. In this new batik, I approached the subject using several techniques and tools. For example much of the backgound was accomplished using a toothbrush as a wax spreading tool. This batik was one of the most complicated works I've ever taken, but I thank God it was successfully completed.

This interesting and unique batik says it all. My initial plan was to do a one color batik as in the photograph but later I went for a multicolor batik which became a big success. I still want to try out the first plan on a smaller batik. From this batik, one can see that inspirations are everywhere, you just have to look. For me to get this idea, I had to peek into the kitchen where my wife had just soaked these seeds to be cooked later.

This batik is titled DRIPPING (2012), an inspiration from dripping made by candle wax. I was also inspired by dripping made by oil paints on their containers. This is titled FRUITS (2012). I aimed at archieving as many different hues and texture as possible. The varying tone in this picture is also ipressive.