Cornelius mugabi: Moulding life from clay

With no art gallery to boast of, the workshop of the soft-spoken visual artist is tucked away in an unfinished house in Kiteezi parish in Wakiso Distict, which is appropriate, considering that he has to work with clay and sometimes, concrete.
“I made my first portrait in 2014 using clay because it is the best for three dimensional images. The thing about clay is that you can make it into any shape you want to and it cooperates fast. Few artists use clay, so I find it more challenging and exciting,” says Cornelius Mugabi.
A few years ago, Mugabi travelled to Dubai and Nairobi and on both trips, what stood out for him were the sculptures of important figures on the streets. “I realised that we do not have such portraits of historically important people gracing our streets in Kampala. That gave me the hope that if I improved my skill, I could eventually be contracted to make such pieces. That is my long- term strategy.”

Besides clay, Mugabi uses concrete for outdoor portraits because it withstands different weather conditions. In his workshop are two unfinished sculptures of a schoolboy and schoolgirl which will grace the compound of a school. “I also use chalk and plastic because they are water resistant. For such work, I begin with clay as a base from which I can finalise all the details before I add resin, and then concrete. I then finish off the work by painting it.”

Capturing the soul in the portrait
According to the visual artist, the best portrait sculptures are those from which the character of the subject can be seen. “An artist who is not into advanced portraiture will only seek to capture the likeness of the subject. However, the hardest part is putting the person’s personality into the image. Older people are easier to sculpt because they usually have a trademark look – the wrinkles and lines on the forehead tell their character.”

An artist must make the portrait such that an onlooker can tell the personality and be able to say, ‘That is a rude person,’ or ‘That is a good person, just by looking at the portrait. “That is the hardest part of this kind of art because you have to capture the subject’s soul and put it in the image. Then, the look in the eyes also has to be captured to give the person character.”
The artist says the faces of babies, children, and young women are the most difficult to make because their personality is not written in them.

The challenges of portrait sculpture
Mugabi gets his raw clay from any place where there is a swamp. However, for filtered clay, he goes to Namungona, where he buys refined clay from a man who makes pots.
“My biggest challenge is in marketing and sales. I have noticed that like a musician, an artist needs a manager to handle the finances while he concentrates on the art,”Mugabi says. He adds that, “As a way forward, I’m in talks with someone who will be my manager. The good thing is that he is impressed with my work”
His other challenge is that a clay sculpture is not easy to schedule. “You cannot give someone a definite time when you will finish the work he or she has commissioned because clay is an unpredictable material.”

Origin of his skill
Mugabi is the last born in a family of five siblings. His mother, Gertrude Ssekabira, is also a visual artist, although nowadays she rarely practises her skill. Of all his siblings, Mugabi is the only one who inherited her skill.

“Mum studied art and before 1995, taught in different schools, such as, Wanyange Girls’ Secondary School and Mengo Senior School before she was promoted to head teacher. She also used to have active exhibitions. In 1995, she exhibited her work in Europe; in 1996, she exhibited in Zambia, and in 1998, she exhibited in the Netherlands and Germany. However, when she went into administration, she became less active in her artwork. Now she is into human resource management and is doing her MBA.”

While his mother was still teaching in Mengo Senior School, Mugabi used to tag along to her art classes. Besides, at the time, his attention was taken up by drawing cartoons he had seen on television.
“In my O and A levels at Kings College Buddo, I would draw pencil portraits of students who were campaigning for office. The school did not allow printed posters, so I charged Shs10,000 for each portrait. I studied a bit of painting using water colours at A-Level and I can do pastel painting.”
At the time, he did not think of doing art actively, for a living.

Branching into computer science
In 2008, in his Senior Six vacation, Mugabi decided to take a different route. “At that time, the thought had come to me that I wanted to hone my art skills but I did not know in what direction I would be going. I did not apply for an art course at the university because I did not think I would be adding any skill to myself. Instead, I applied to study computer science. I graduated in 2014. That was the year I decided to go into portrait sculpture.”
When he is not in the workshop, the computer scientist is writing software and doing web development. “People and companies hire me to create websites for them and write programmes.”

Charging for his skill
So far, Mugabi has been commissioned by artist, Eddy Kenzo, to make a portrait of him; Namugongo Museum to make a portrait of retired Archbishop Livingstone Mpalanyi Nkoyoyo, and by a Rotarian to make a portrait of Bank of Uganda governor, Emmanuel Tumusiime Mutebile.
“The amount I charge depends on who is ordering for the sculpture. If it is a private person, I charge between Shs700,000 and Shs1million. For people in public life, I charge above Shs2million depending on whether they want a face mask, a bust, or full figure made.”

His dream
Mugabi’s dream is to open a gallery for his art this year to hold a permanent exhibition.
“The reason I do portrait sculpture is because it is easy for people to connect with. I could have done abstract sculpture of expressionism but many Ugandans have not yet reached the level of appreciating that kind of art. Portrait sculpture is the closest to what people can understand for now.”

He is living his dream, earning from two skills but he is aware of the fact that he needs more skills. “Although I’m self-taught, I’m considering going abroad, preferably to Italy, to do short, six week courses in figurative portraiture. If you are doing this kind of work you need help to arrive at the pricing and the output per month or year. If not, a course in entrepreneurship would suffice.”
Mugabi’s main motivation is that with each sculpture, he is improving in his skill, to the extent that one day, his work will grace the streets of Kampala.