In his series of works Constellations and Sediment, Peterson Kamwathi examines the contortions adopted by those who are part of forced migration. Forced mass movements have featured consistently in the media for quite a number of years now. One of the most visible scenes of these mass movements is the image of people clustered together in a state of waiting. In this body of work, Kamwathi started by trying to define what compels people to undertake perilous journeys into the unknown. ‘Constellation’ being the air of collective and individual aspirations, ‘sediments’ symbolizing the many layers that constitute the difficult realities inherent to these transitions. Constellations can be hope, dreams for a better future and personal ambitions. Sediments are an individual’s past, the history of one’s society and their place in it, limitations in access to basic human needs and wants.

Peterson’s work has been widely exhibited, most recently, When the Heavens Meet the Earth, The Heong Gallery, Downing College, Cambridge (2017) and La Biennale di Venezia, Venice (2017), where he represented Kenya.