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Elewa | Elizabeth Ashamu Deng | Cyanotype Artist + Educator

@elewaart

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Creating uplifting, biophilic art for your home. Shop at elewaart.com. Commissions by DM. Ships worldwide. Nairobi studio visits welcome.
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We’re excited for another busy month in the studio! Here’s the summary. Swipe for all the details. Workshops Kanga workshop at Ẹlẹ́wà studio, 11 November Sunprinting activity at Afrilove Fest, 21 November Group shows Pink Edit, Kamene Cultural Centre, opening 29 October A Muse of One’s Own, The Canteen, opening 31 October Arts Club of Washington, D.C., opening 6 November Design and Sunprint Your Own Kanga Explore the rich history of East African kanga/leso, choose or invent your own saying (msemo) or proverb (methali), draw your design, and print it in cyanotype on A3 paper and fabric. 📅 Wednesday, 11 November 🕘 9:00 am to 12:30 pm 💵 KES 5,000 📍 Ẹlẹ́wà Studio, Ridgeways Ages 8 and up are welcome. 👉🏾 Book at the link in bio I’m leading a hands-on cyanotype workshop at Afrilove Fest, and I’d love to see you there. I’ll guide you through the simple and beautiful process of making photographic prints with sunlight. Bring special leaves, feathers, lace, or other small objects from home, or choose from the objects I’ll have on hand. You’ll arrange them on light-sensitive paper, expose them to the sun, and make striking blue-and-white prints to take home. Cyanotype is fun, relaxing, and accessible to all skill levels. All materials are included. Cyanotype workshop 📅 Date: Saturday, 21 November 📍 Nairobi Arboretum’s Private Grounds 🕛 Time: 12 to 1:30 pm Price: 2,000/- Minimum age: 6. The workshop is open to adults and children aged 10 and above. Children aged 6 to 9 are welcome when accompanied by an adult. Limited spaces, so book now: afrilovefest.com I’m honored to be part of PINK EDIT, a group show of women artists at Kamene Cultural Centre. I’ll be showing several pieces from my mammogram series, including one gilded mammogram. Come be the first to see it. From the organizers: More than an exhibition, PINK EDIT is a celebration of women, artistic expression and cultural possibility. Through art, we seek to amplify voices, inspire dialogue and advance a culture of empowerment, with advocacy at its heart. For us, pink is not just a color, it is a proposition and we have invited a female only ensemble of promising by @elewaart
Welcome, and thank you for being here! If you’d like to see more of my work or found something that speaks to you, here’s where to begin. • Online: Browse and shop at elewaart.com. Unframed pieces ship worldwide, and framing is available in Kenya. • Nairobi: See my work in person at @ukohapake concept store at ABC Place in Westlands, alongside some of the city’s best fashion and homeware brands. • Diani: Find pieces at @almasi.art.agency. • Studio visits: Want deeper insight into what inspires me and how I work? Welcome for a tour and a chat. DM to schedule. • Questions or commissions: Wondering about a piece or daydreaming about something made just for your space? Send a message anytime. by @elewaart
Here is the story of how I became an artist — or really, how I found my way back to being one. I’ve always loved making things. But it was losing my sister Priscilla, and then my job, that turned making into a lifeline. Every piece I create now carries her with me — her love of indigo, of flowers, of filling home with color. There is so much she dreamed of creating, and never got to. And so my practice is a promise to myself: my legacy will be one of beauty. What has grief taught you to create, or to become? by @elewaart
Discover the magic of cyanotype sun prints! ⁠ ⁠ In this hands-on workshop, artist Elizabeth Ashamu Deng will guide you through the simple and beautiful process of creating photographic prints using sunlight.⁠ ⁠ You’re welcome to bring special leaves, feathers, lace, or other small objects from home, or explore the range of objects provided during the class. ⁠ ⁠ By arranging these materials on light-sensitive paper and exposing them to the sun, you will create striking blue-and-white prints to take home.⁠ ⁠ Cyanotype is fun, relaxing, and accessible to all skill levels. ⁠ All materials are included for use during the workshop⁠ ⁠ *Cyanotype workshop*⁠ ⁠ - Time: 12pm⁠ - Price: 2,000/-⁠ - Minimum Age: 6 (The workshop is open to adults and children aged 10 and above. Children aged 6–9 are also welcome when accompanied by an adult)⁠ - Led by: @elewaart⁠ ⁠ Limited spaces available so book now: afrilovefest.com (link in bio)⁠ ⁠ Afri-love Fest takes place at Nairobi Arboretum’s Private Grounds on Saturday 21st November.⁠ #GatherCreateRestore by @elewaart
Yes, I turned my boobs into flowers. 🌸 Bosom Blooms, No. 4 is part of A Muse of One’s Own, which opened yesterday at @thecanteennairobi It’s made from cyanotype prints of my mammogram, set against a background of flowers from my sister’s garden. As adults we bonded over motherhood, and particularly breastfeeding, and shared an obsession with flowers. She would have laughed at this one, and then asked to keep it. Bosom Blooms, No. 4 (2026) Quilted cyanotype on watercolor paper 28 × 28 cm (11 × 11 in) 📅 On view: until 21 November 2026 📍 The Canteen, Gedi Road, Nairobi (parking at Lavington Mall) Free to attend. All works and prints are available to purchase. Full catalogue at link in bio. From the organizers: A Muse of One’s Own is a curation of works that evoke the female gaze and open viewers to the perspectives and depictions of women artists. The artworks collectively take back power over how women choose to view and portray themselves. We welcome you to explore the global south feminist themes that run through the show: womanhood, intimacy, women at leisure, joy, sovereignty, community, and more. by @elewaart
Cyanotype is ageless! We had so much fun teaching this 80-year-old a new trick! She had watched us setting up, working with other students, and called us to ask, “What are you cooking?” 😄 She arranged letters, lace, and guinea fowl feathers on the treated paper, baked it under the open sky, rinsed it for a few minutes in a cool water bath, and hung it on the line to sun-dry. Not dinner, but a beautiful cyanotype for her 6-year-old granddaughter! by @elewaart
Just a bunch of beautiful Mombasa things ❤️ by @elewaart
How do you paint the shadow of a palm? Excited to introduce this new activity, where you add watercolor paints to a botanic Cyanotype print. Keep it natural or make it wild, your choice. We call it shadow painting. This could make a great party & bonding activity. Message us if you’d like to try. by @elewaart
‘A Muse of One’s Own’ is a curation of works aimed to evoke the female gaze in viewers and open them to the perspectives of and depictions by women artists. The artworks collectively take back power on how women choose to view and portray themselves. We welcome you to explore the global south feminist themes that unravel through the show: womanhood, intimacy, women at leisure, joy, sovereignty, community and more. Running through October 31st - November 21st 2026. Opening Reception on Saturday October 31st, 3pm-6pm. (Walk-through: 3.30pm) 📍The Canteen, Gedi Road, Nairobi (parking available at Lavington Mall). Free to attend for all. All works and prints will be available to purchase. by @elewaart
We’re in Mombasa! We’re part of The Creative Trail, from Tuesday October 27th to Thursday October 29th, a three-day celebration of art, culture, creativity, and heritage in the heart of Old Town, Mombasa. Join us for daily Cyanotype workshops, 9:30 am to 5:00 pm. We’ll be hosting mini Cyanotype experiences on a walk-in basis, and a daily morning leso/kanga design class that requires an RSVP. • Design Your Own Leso/Kanga: 9:30 am to 12:30 pm daily. Three hours just for you: choose your motifs, add your message, and watch it develop in the sun. 5,000 ksh. RSVP at the link in bio. • Sunprint on Paper: Explore botanicals, feathers, and more. 1,000 ksh (No RSVP required) • Shadow Painting: Color in a cyanotype print of coastal botanicals with water colors. 1,000 ksh (No RSVP required) 📍 Station 13, opposite Island Misfits Shop, Old Town, Mombasa 📅 October 27th to 29th, 2026 🕘 9:30 am to 5:00 pm daily 📞 +254 708 983 545 Hosted by Imani Collective as part of Pwani Innovation Week, The Creative Trail invites visitors to explore 16 interactive creative stations and experience the traditions and craftsmanship that make Mombasa so unique. #TheCreativeTrail #PwaniInnovationWeek #OldTownMombasa by @elewaart
Trying cyanotype art for the first time! 😍 it’s such a cool process! Courtesy of @elewaart , all the way from Nairobi here in Mombasa until the 29th She has 1 cyanotype workshop every day! And multiple smaller workshops during the day where you can still experience a glimpse of this! Kanga Workshop - 5,000ksh (you get to go home with 3 prints!!) 😍😍😍 , 3 hours! Book mark workshop - Would highly recommend!! Check out the Creative Trail by Imani Collective! @imanicollective they have other workshops to attend from 27-29th Oct (Swahili cooking, henna, tea making, beadwork, weaving, etc.) Don’t miss out guys! This was suppppeerrr coool 😍😍😍😍😍 by @elewaart
What a beautiful afternoon chatting with Imran, a fourth-generation kanga/leso designer @maliyaabdulla in Mombasa. Every week you can expect new designs at the shop. They usually sell out, and no design is ever repeated. Imran creates the patterns, choosing five color schemes for each one. His uncle composes the jina, the sayings at the bottom of each kanga, working in themes: the kanga that tell people off, the ones about wazazi (parents), about wapenzi (lovers). Another relative then pairs the names with the designs. Kanga have a long history on the Kenyan coast, and with the Abdulla family in particular. They were first manufactured in India and Europe. The family opened its shop in Mombasa in 1887, and in the 1920s Imran’s great-grandfather wanted to make his unique and so started adding words to the cloth. Four generations and millions of kanga later, they were clearly on to something. Imran calls the kanga “the first SMS”: a place for women to speak, subtly. A place where a woman can send a harsh message, and if you’re offended by what she’s wearing, well, that’s your problem. She didn’t write it, didn’t say it aloud, she just wore it. I asked Imran how he feels seeing his designs worn by so many. He acknowledged the good feeling he gets seeing his work out on the street, but said, “We have to stay humble. It is God who inspires me. I just put it down on fabric.” by @elewaart

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