Born in 1984 in Kimberley in South Africa.
Kimathi Mafafo is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice ranges from embroidery, and oil painting to installation. Born in the semi-arid Kimberley in the Northern Cape of South Africa, Mafafo questions historical stereotypes around gender inequality in Africa. She primarily focuses on celebrating the black female and abstracted forms, placing them in often verdant imagery characterised by lush greenery and sensuous drapery, far removed from the dusty mining town where she grew up.
Kimathi Mafafo was finalist for the Ares Art Prize (2022) and the recipient of the Norval Foundation Sovereign Art Prize (2022). Kimathi Mafafo's work can be found in various international collections which include The Bunker Artspace Collection, Palm Beach, Florida, USA; Kilbourn Collection, Cape Town, South Africa; William Humphreys Art Gallery, Kimberly South Africa; Standard Bank Corporate Art Collection, Johannesburg, South Africa; Africa First Collection, Israel; IZIKO South African National Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa; The Art Bank of South Africa, Oliewenhuis Art Museum, Bloemfontein, South Africa; The Irma Stern Museum, The University of Cape Town; Foundation H Museum, Antananarivo, Madagascar; Jiminez / Constantine Trust, Puerto Rico; Euston Capital Collection, USA; The House of KOKO, London, UK; Spiers Arts Trust, South Africa; Nelson Mandela Art Museum in Gqeberha (FKA Port Elizabeth); Rupert Museum, Stellenbosch, South Africa.