Kenda

Kenda is the Luo word for "by myself." This work is the fourth in the series From My Table — a body of paintings that turns the everyday rhythms of a commute into a meditation on abundance, memory, and the quiet strength it takes to keep going.

The central figure is a horse, reimagined as a table: a resting place, an extension of the self. Its form draws from two sources at once 1. Picasso's bull and the hand-carved wooden horses of Kenyan craft tradition and 

2. holding Western fine art and East African making in the same breath.

Hanging from the horse are freshly caught fish: the abundance we chase each day without always naming it.

The horse looks back. That backward glance is deliberate. It carries the Adinkra symbol Sankofa which is the understanding that moving forward well means knowing where you have been.

What stays with the work is the legs. Slender, almost fragile, and entirely intentional. They are the painting's quiet argument: that continuing is a conscious act, and that the conscious act is worth honoring.

Oil on canvas. 24 × 20 in. Framed: 29 × 25 in.

Original paintings in this series do not repeat. Once Kenda is placed, it is placed. If you are drawn to it, that recognition is worth trusting.

For questions about the work, shipping, or installation, write to info@janeadhi.com or send me a message on any of my socials @jane_adhi