Donald Wasswa (Ugandan b. 1984)
Lives and works in Uganda
Donald Wasswa’s multidisciplinary practice explores processes of social and environmental transformation, influences of science and technology, and the changing nature of communication in contemporary societies. Spontaneous encounters with natural or found objects shape his research, with these objects, claimed as art materials, becoming carriers of memories and places. Wasswa’s objects suffer various forms of interference by carving, assembling and arranging, resulting in sculptural forms, three-dimensional paintings and installations. Through this process of material transformation, Wasswa imagines the secret lives of man-made objects and how they might in turn determine future humans.
Wasswa studied Sculpture at Kyambogo University. He has participated in solo and group exhibitions in Uganda and abroad, including: East African Encounters, Cromwell Place, London, 2021; Degenerative Evolution of the Living, Absa Art Gallery, Johannesburg, 2018; To Live is to Become, Afriart Gallery, Kampala, 2017; Zikunta, Kampala, 2016. In 2019 Wasswa was one of the selected artists for Ouagadougou Sculpture Biennial and showed at 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair in London. In 2022 he returned to 1-54 and exhibited at Untitled Miami Art Fair with Steve Turner Gallery. He was the 2016 recipient of the Merit Award in the Absa L’Atelier competition. Wasswa is currently based in Kampala where he is the founder/proprietor of Artpunch Studio.