Presenting sound art in a gallery setting is a unique challenge for any curator or designer. Variform, the long since closed art space run by acclaimed musician Patricia Wolf and her husband, was successful on that front by keeping visual distractions to a minimum—all the better to concentrate on the field recordings or drones pouring out of speakers placed around the room. Other spaces tend to pair the art with video or other works as.
Kariũki’s intimate music summoned her home while she was stuck in the US during lockdown – and her darker new album delves into her experience of long Covid