Art is freedom. Being able to bend things most people see as a straight line.
Currently based in Virginia, a state in the south-eastern U.S., Mbaimba Kamara was born in the West African country of Sierra Leone.
He started painting from an early age and developed his skill as a means to express his thoughts and feelings, as well as to enable him to find balance. Mbaimba has an introverted nature and enjoys observing his environment, finding inspiration in all different kinds of people. He uses his vibrant paintings as a way of expressing his thoughts and dreams, which are often inspired by the observations of his surroundings and the people within it.
Due to his admiration of art during his childhood in Sierra Leone, he was often late for school, having stopped at every corner to admire or observe every artist and work of a rt on display at the side of the road. Sierra Leone is a Muslim country, with approximately 80% of the population being Muslim. This meant his Muslim upbringing would not allow Mbaimba to create vivid paintings under Allah’s law. Although he was discouraged from drawing animate beings, he committed to improving his craft after one of the most inspiring encounters in his life, which has shaped him to this date.
This inspiring encounter would follow Mbaimba for the rest of his life.
It happened when he met a former child soldier during the First Liberian Civil War in Sierra Leone (1991 to 2002) who showed him how to draw elephants. Back then , more than 50% of the military was made up of children, and the death toll from the war is estimated at 50,000 in a country with a population of roughly six million people.
Unfortunately, Mbaimba lost a lot of close friends and family members during that time. After the encounter with the former child soldier, Mbaimba’s passion and inspiration for painting grew even stronger. Mbaimba shared the same passion as the child soldier, and they both used it to express themselves in paintings.
The previous incidents in his lifetime and what he had to process emotionally as a child during the war were tremendously painful, so painting helped him to heal from the memories of his experiences during the war, and he felt grateful to have survived. He was also extremely lucky and grateful to have had the chance to move to the U.S. as a child, where he hoped to be able to develop and pursue his skill in all kinds of directions without limits – as his lively paintings today show.
Moving to the States presented many different opportunities to Mbaimba, and he could openly and happily live his liberated mindset and life in a free country. Mbaimba embraces diversity, and as he is equipped with a variety of skills in numerous areas, he also continued to work on his successful professional soccer career while studying art.
He started his education in art in high school in Virginia. His teacher back then was one of the first people to draw special attention to Mbaimba as one of the most talented art students she had ever had. Moreover, she was one of the first artists to acknowledge his art and truly believe in his skill. All the while, he gathered a lot of negative critiques regarding his art back home in Sierra Leone due to the Islamic rules there, among other reasons.
However, now in America and with his teacher’s life-changing recognition of his work along with her advice to remain in the field of art due of his special skills, Mbaimba was encouraged to choose art as a major. During that time, he developed a special preference for acrylics and oils. He went on to study art at the University of Virginia, where art is a central part of the university. Mbaimba still fosters a good relationship with his former high school teacher since she was the first person who always supported and believed in him from early age. Mbaimba holds a bachelor’s degree in art and graphic design, and he is a former professional soccer player.
He built a soccer foundation, hence he currently still works in the soccer and continually works on his art projects. During his soccer career, where he travelled around the world and lived in Africa, America, the Middle East and Europe, he played for the best-known soccer club in Paris, the city of love, and the city which fosters an art culture, where he continually gathered more new experiences and inspirations from all manner of things. He was constantly inspired by his new surroundings, including but not limited to museums, other artists and architecture. Despite all of his experience, acclaim, clientele and more, Mbaimba always believes that he is constantly reaching another top of the art game.
Mbaimba says:
I’ve painted ever since I can remember, and I strive for perfection with every single painting I make, with every stroke and pop. During the painting process, my technique and level increase and improve. I am grateful for the professional art level I have already reached regarding painting, but as soon as I stop challenging myself and think that I have reached my goal regarding my painting level, that would be the day, where I would lack imagination, the hunger to paint, the ability to create new work and so on … I treat my painting skill like myself, my body. I love it, I take care of it, mentally and physically – challenging myself, workout-wise every day to remain competitive against myself, which motivates me to beat the new challenge every day.
I foster it every day so it remains healthy and alive, and I can enjoy it as long as possible. Moreover, I believe that art cannot reach limits, in part because development and perfection are endless.
- Mbaimba Kamara
Mbaimba has a unique way of approaching the canvas, and even more special is his painting style itself. He visualizes his paintings first and eventually brings his imagination to life on the canvas. During the process, Mbaimba disappears into another bright world of his own, which reflects his unique way of seeing the world. This brings him a lot of joy, happiness, positivity and a healthy lifestyle because of the balance he has found in painting.
Mbaimba is convinced that painting is healing, pure positivity, and therefore, he has even successfully helped people to be inspired by painting in general. He encourages and helps them in taking the first steps towards painting for themselves, either as a hobby or professionally. Mbaimba gives this kind of ‘tutoring’ or seminars from time to time to make people feel better about themselves, to help them find balance or simply to heal from various events that occurred during their lifetimes, just like Mbaimba did.
He has taught all kinds of people to paint, no matter what their level was. Some had no experience at all and were even scared to try painting because they did not believe that they could do it.
Mbaimba has helped everyone, from children to adults in all sectors from business to social, students, housewives, etc. Mbaimba enjoys such developments and loves to share the benefits of painting.
Mbaimba has been painting professionally since 2000 and still draws inspiration from his childhood in Sierra Leone and his travel experiences as a former professional soccer player traversing the globe.
Mbaimba creates abstract art of all manners without limits, from landscapes, still-life and human beings to animals. He is passionate about using bright colours to create images that display layers of meaning as well as the positive vibes he would like to share with the fast-paced changing world of diversity.
At the deepest level, the creative process and the healing process arise from a single source.
When you are an artist, you are a healer; a wordless trust of the same mystery is the foundation of your work and its integrity. - Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen
About KamarArt (provisional bullet points, text follows)
Further interesting projects soon, international art business, international team, international exhibitions and so on.
