bRandt maina
RIOA wa ROE
We Did it
We did it, Joe
Harambee
Long before the tragic gorilla
Harambee was and still is a Kenyan tradition of community self-help events,e.g. fundraising or development activities. The word means "all pull together" in Swahili, and is the official motto of Kenya, appearing on its coat of arms. (wikipedia)
Marching in the IcyHot™️ desert snow,
an immigrant, an asylee
an artist on Stolen Land
I am imagining what it might feel like to own bootstraps and pulling my way through
I am joyful to have made it thus far through the support of my community:
Indeed, it takes a village--
The Portland Homeless Youth Continuum, Oregon Health Equity Alliance, SOAR Immigration Legal Services, Portland Clear Clinic,
P:EAR mentor, Past Lives Makerspace, and Blue Sky Gallery
And you...
Genuinely,
Thank you for being Here, Right Now
Right Here, Right Now
Thank you for being you, just as you are
Most of all, thank you for sharing your Time and Energy with me
Welcome to the Family, friend
Where will Our Story go next?
Who's to say?
Come along, bestie, before the Moonbeans disappear...
___________________
Peace and Lift and Laugh, Love and Life and Light
A tiny, tiny, ever oh so tiny Hope-filled Spark
Artist Statement
Rippling across this Continent
I took a trip to see an old soul friend
Hours and Ours and Ours
My eyes unable to discern what Destiny Manifested
Generational Rust and Yellowing
Browns
The title of an up and coming upcoming next…
Where the wind comes sweeping down the protruding veins,
Injecting the grain with a colonial plague
Something is killing the Native Spirits
And this is the message She gifted the night I returned:
Lift
Sift
Fading digitally pixelation
These waves of Woven Shapes pour out of Us
Lo-fi
Land
Stealing
From the Almighty Heavenly Bog
Vespa
The Duck as Segue
“In the depth of fever,
I wanted to give up last night, but I didn’t”
That line
That there line is why we are here
Oh, Capricious Cornucopia
Hello There,
________________________________________
This work is a preview of an upcoming photography show
An absurdist yet honest conversation on neo-colonialism, an immigrant’s Courage, shattering poverty cycles,
and finding Sanctuary on Stolen Land
Remaining Open
I Am offering Mustard Seeds and building a community
Come, Gather, Listen to Our Stories
For the Horizon foretells a Time for
Harvest
🌞🤲🏽
Short on iPhone6s
Shirt Biology
Brandt Maina (he/they)
– RIOA wa ROE —
is an abstRact and absuRdist artist, performer and writer from Nairobi, Kenya. In the month of the year of our Lard, May 2020, they graduated with a BFA in Acting and Vocal Performance from Taylor University, a small conservative Christian University in rural Indiana.
Simply stated,
with a background in the arts, and fresh memories of being homeless in downtown Portland, Brandt is a tenderly traumatized queer who brings a strong collaborative spirit and gentle tenacity to ensure that every voice is heard (periodt)
Currently,
right at this very moment,
they are working to produce a tv pilot for a series on their experience of the postmodern American dream, composing music for their Greco-African experience, Dionysian Rites, producing two plays, Occasionally Other People Come In and The Blooming CHAOS if a Hot Summer, developing their album, “she broke my G string”,
all the while
slowly releasing more than 8 collections/series of artwork documenting their experience as an immigrant applying for asylum status over the past year and a half,
July 2021 to…
RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW
RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW
Once more
Rye Tear, Rai Music is pretty good actually
Brandt is also taking a health equity class with Oregon Health Equity Alliance and advocating for at-risk and homeless youth and Our Experiences. And, lastly, when the opportunity presents itself, they love to share stories with new friends over cups of tea
😌🐘
________________________________________
“In a society that forces division based on differences in demographic, I seek to unify audiences by outlining how, despite our cultural origin and medium,
the arts uniquely communicate and express the exact same human experiences -- no originality, just iteration — at the core of our humanity is the desire to be seen, known, heard, understood, cared for, and Loved.”
Brandt also goes by the name RIOA wa ROE
[Ri-Oh-Ah wah Roh- Ei]
RIOA for short.
The name means “Sun of the River” in Kikuyu.
🌞🤲🏽