It’s tough not to be friends with Helen Omamo Gomaz, a Kenyan artist. Her eyes sparkle and she has a booming laugh. A few minutes into our conversation, she has already told me about her children, joked about her sugar cane field in Kenya where she grows strawberries and invited me into her house for wine and dinner. The visitors who stream into the Kasthuri Sreenivasam Art Gallery are equally in awe of this artist who beams at them. “I love people. Simple people fascinate me. My paintings are also simple. I do not want you to analyse my works. Just hang it on the walls of your living rooms, look at them and feel happy,” she says.
Her works are a little like her. Brimming with life and colour. She loves reds, oranges and greens. There are glimpses of Kenyan life like the bazaars and women in bright robes. Helen’s canvas world is mostly inhabited by women. There are girls meditating under a tree, a mother fondling her baby and gracefully swaying dancers. Why aren’t there any men on her canvas? “A woman is any day more interesting to draw. I do not think I will ever draw a man however good looking he is; even if he is Shah Rukh Khan!” she laughs.
As a child, Helen painted a lot. But, pursuing art as a serious career was not considered viable then. So she studied tourism in college and later was appointed to work for the Kenya Consul General Office in Frankfurt, Germany. She quit her job to look after her children after serving the consulate for 10 years.
Even though she calls Germany more of a home, because of the social life and friends, she says Kenyan life finds its way into her canvas. “After all you cannot divorce your soul,” she says. Art re-entered her life after many years, when her children grew up and went to University. “Till then I was packing lunch for them and making sure they reached school on time. After they left I began to ponder about what I wanted to do really.” She says, one day when her son came back home, he found an art work on their wall instead of dinner on the table! “My friends told me they were good enough to be exhibited. Initially I was nervous. Especially, because I was in another country and I belonged to a minority community. And my work spoke of my culture. I worried.” But, before she knew it, she was a member of the Chamber of Artists in Hessen. She has showcased her works at some of the most esteemed exhibitions in Europe like the Pauls Kirche.
She moved to Coimbatore in 2009 because her husband had an overseas posting in a Frankfurt based company here. Her father, who was a student at the Agricultural College in the city, was most excited. “He kicked off his career here. The education helped him become the minister of Agriculture in the Kenyan Government! So Coimbatore is special for us.” Helen has been busy helping inmates of old age homes and teaching English language to kids at the CMS Children’s Home . “I did not want to become just another expatriate wife, playing golf ,” she says. Helen uses art to reach out to the inmates of old age homes. “Once I even carried cartons of paint brushes and canvasses to the home and asked all of them to paint. We spent that entire Sunday drawing. Some of the ladies could not even walk and few others could not hold the brush steady. Still, everyone joined.” One lady was so fond of her that she gifted her a pair of anklets. “She had this tattered jewellery box, which she treasured all these years. I was so moved. I went back to my car and cried.” She zooms across the city in a car with her driver friend Rajan, scouting for paint shops, galleries and new friends. People are surprised by the ease with which she connects to others. For the kids at CMS, she is the lovable aunty. “The minute I walk into the class, they get hold of my bangles, glasses and sandals. By the time I leave, half of my stuff is with them,” she says.
Helen wants to use the proceeds of this exhibition to build a library for the children. “There is a dearth of reading material for these children. I want them to have a space where they can sit quietly and read and escape into another world. I am keeping it as a secret from them,” Helen winks.
(Helen’s works are on display at the Kasthuri Sreenivasan Art Gallery till June 23. For details, call 0422-2574110.)
