Dickens Otieno’s tapestries draw attention to the potential beauty in objects that would otherwise be dismissed as useless and discarded. He shreds aluminium cans and weaves them in a process informed by the weaving of natural materials such as papyrus, raffia, or palm that he observed growing up. He spent many hours in his mother’s tailor workshop amongst lesos and kitenges, whose colours and patterns have since influenced his aesthetic. This engagement with fabrics grows from an interest in the way pattern, colour, and iconography imbue functional objects with meaning and identity. Otieno draws heavily on his immediate physical surroundings, particularly the urban environment of Nairobi to create his compositions. Objects piled high in markets, the constantly shifting skyline, the pockets of nature in the concrete and steel haze of Nairobi – these are the sources of Otieno’s inspiration for his richly hued, increasingly sculptural compositions. Otieno has shown his work at exhibitions and art fairs in Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria, the UK, France, and the UAE.