4/24
Crossing my fingies and hoping The Winged goddess of Viceroy Herself would collab with me Woishe, woishe, c u collab kidogo tu
Brandt Maina | RIOA wa RIOE, detail of This is une Nike, Babushka, No. 4/24 from Prophetic Charcoal Dreams (September 2022)
12 x 16
charcoal, ink on paper
There I was Bar Bee Queer Salts in my temples You know at some point someone somewhere convinces you to try a little some some
And so you do
And so there you are Head down, town gown
Dead of Night
Moon peaking behind churches
Red
I sit on my electric broom
Scrunch
Orange
Flying on my Nike [modern electric public transportation] Bike
Occasionally I will pronounce it as Ni-Keh Bi-Keh
In a tone that someone else might say, “Mitsubishi”
Nike Bike
PI Bright but Open Dead of Night Brain deeply, steepled and stabled with the phantasmowhimsical marvels of performance art CA
There are so many options, so many many many options
I think I want to awaken in you a phear that Dobby is Sméagol A phear of just how much much you much Mhhhh brain
Brandt Maina | RIOA wa RIOE, detail of This is une Nike, Babushka, No. 4/24 from Prophetic Charcoal Dreams (September 2022)
12 x 16
charcoal, ink on paper
What is our brains were flat
Is over of equals percent over one hundred
Soft and flat
Basically just glass
What if you were still holding on to the meaning in words
As though that matters at all
*groans meaningful percent signs
*inhales sharply *exhales Close your eyes You’ve made it this far, bestie
Let me wash your feet There is a world of delightful little hohos
This means bell peppers
Ulianza na hoho
Ulianza na hoho
Umetangulia na aioli kwanini?
Can you really truly believe I discarded my mother tongue to spew nonsense in the language of my colonizers
Okay, thank you!
As I should!
Obscene obeisance
Allow me to continue to rip and tear Our neurons at Our will
the genderless lands of consciousness
superiorfluous-states-of-Being How do you build an -ingdom
Brandt Maina | RIOA wa RIOE, I wish I could say this wasn't my front+backyard, at least my walk home was safe, (Time Lapse)
dimensions vary
digital photograph
Wash wishes and continue to test your best attention Intention Discipline your mind
🌞FOCUS🌞 If you can hold on to yourself while the sandstorm of non sequiturs rages on You will achieve Nirvana Top Down Verbal Bottom Brown God Religion is a vertical toy Zig zag Tiera wack
Give a Gob
a done
This old Regina is a virginal coy
*in the cutest most Eno-scent voice
“I luh him, I luh him ”
Eno is an over-the-counter antacid brand produced by Haleon. Its main ingredients are sodium carbonate, Sodium bicarbonate and citric acid.
the scent in question is the tell-tale flavor of Being…
*in earnest Lemongrab
Unacceptable
I consumed a lot of Eno as a child
Really truly quite a bit
My father had stomach ulcers
Now that I have grown from hating him to being indifferent
I wonder
Brandt Maina | RIOA wa RIOE, detail of This is une Nike, Babushka, No. 4/24 from Prophetic Charcoal Dreams (September 2022)
12 x 16
charcoal, ink on paper
Wow
Is dad anxious? Dad? Dada Goo goo Laddie MoMa
The doors of the Olympus shall open and Phaeton shall plead with his Father for his share of the Sun He will be anointed with cute little cows Precious little cows everywhere Don’t we just love queer boys with Saliva complex Amen Yeeck, I’m uncomfy
Let us save a slip into this Freudian cesspool for another waste of toime
Brandt Maina | RIOA wa RIOE, Kenyan born 1997, I AM grateful for Life and all of its Playfulness, from I AM, I AM (November 2022)
12 x 16
oil pastel, ink on paper
If you can hold onto yourself
while the Chef’s Kitchen of pointillist thoughts is brushed onto you cerebral igneous plate
Your will achieve Nivea
Remember to Forget
I remember when I started using lotion instead of petroleum jelly to moisturize my skin
December 2007
There I was
About ten years old A small white building with a red shingle roof
Shangalanga langa langalala Thin metal stings rattling in the wind
Strings singing a colonial residue into Sacred Hills
The green and deep red hills of Dagoretti were sliced open by the snake that threw up white butterflies
Up the hill down the sill
I returned home to my mother, the swimming teacher, announcing that I would be attending an American school next year
Expansion and excelleration
Coach M. had done it again The smell of Nivea for Men is imprinted into the shift that rifted the Great Valley
Dark Navy Blue Bottle
Tears of a boy confessing that he has been lying about being ill to miss multiple days of Kenyan school each year Fear of punishment despite doing my best gave me anxiety There is a hell where children try their best every day and still get a betting Apparently that’s... that’s a trauma
Jill Bill Philemon Come along, my fresh little axolotl
My mother just sat there and watched in utter confusion What to do with my teary honest child I wonder if her husband was anxious
She must know
Remember to Forget Jan 2008
A post-colonial country continues to tear
Post Election Violence
The people outside are macheteeing each other to death by the the hundreds
Hello?
People burning each other in car tires filled with gasoline
Moshi moshi? 저 연기야?
Are we really surprised that my brain turned into changaa na mai ma maitho nĩ bura?
Brandt Maina | RIOA wa RIOE, kiss my face, cold-presssed olive oil soap (Nov 25 2022 10:59pm)
4032 x 3024
digital photograph,
A distant train station Perhaps, I think my uncle was in a cult Mungiki I don’t know what that means Many Multitudes Mi papa was a c— We’ll get to that later
Brandt Maina | RIOA wa RIOE, kiss my face, cold-presssed olive oil soap (Nov 25 2022 10:59pm)
4032 x 3024
digital photograph,
You know what they say,
As sure as day, The cow must taste it’s own milk Paka Paka
Paka
Paka Paka Paka usiogope
Shika Paka Power!
In Conclusion,
If you hold on to yourself and breathe into your self slowly, every day
If you hold on to yourself and breathe peace in your self slowly, every day
If you hold onto yourself as you breath Life into your cells slowly, every day
If you Hold onto your cells as you breath Light into your Shells slowly, every day
Radiate into Old Age Shosho na guka I had a dream about my last grandfather several mornings ago I wonder if I’ll ever get to see him again
Remember to forget
Brandt Maina | RIOA wa RIOE, Kenyan born 1997, This is une Nike, Babushka, No. 4/24 from Prophetic Charcoal Dreams (September 2022)
12 x 16
charcoal, ink on paper
Brandt Maina | RIOA wa RIOE, Post-It Note #38 (2021)
3x3 in
oil pastel, ink on water damaged post-it note
__________________________________________________________________________________________
When that Gay Gays, He Theys, a short scene by Brandt Maina | RIOA wa RIOE
1. INT. A SMALL MINDcontorol STUDIO IN KAREN, KENYA - EARLY SUNSET .1
A crowded room soaked in Mama Africa’s golden sunlight. Tents energetically stomp through their musical theatre dance. It smells like something
RIGHT TITI:
“OHMYGOD yea! I’m like obsessed with her. Like I’m such a Kate's Boosh stan. Like I would snort her dandruff and hope I catch something….no,no,no,no like I know... I know that like a lot, but like I’m truly committed to doing it because it’ssssss Kait Busch. Like... she's an angel of our time. And she's legit older than Days of Our Lives. No, she’s like literally an icon, a vibe and a moment.”
LEFT TITI:
(like a bro)
“No, yea, she’s giving. She’s tots giving.”
Fade into Shark Tank: Bank Loan
END.
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CURATION: A RIOA wa RIOE Creation