Wangechi Mutu, Sentinels

Wangechi Mutu: I work with fiberglass mannequin parts. And the amazing thing about the fashion mannequins is that they don't stand on their own.

Narrator: Wangechi Mutu.

Wangechi Mutu: As I built them I realized how sturdy and strong they looked, and their legs were so muscular, but obviously in this completely abstract non-human way, because they've got all these branches and roots in them. And they just felt so sturdy. They had such integrity, and stillness. And I decided that they were like guards.

Narrator: Mutu, who was born in Kenya and spent much of her life in New York, now also has a studio in Nairobi. She made these sculptures there, and many of the materials are from Kenya.

Wangechi Mutu: Some of them are traditional objects, pots and implements made by traditional artisans and artists. And in some cases, they have bits and pieces of animals. And there's kind of an archeological feeling about not just what I think what they look like, but making them. Because I think that's really where it comes from for me is, as I'm building them, I'm also unearthing layers inside of myself, about my home, about the land. 

And I think all of that is this . . . long exercise that I've been going through over the years, of really trying to return a sense of wholeness to something that was broken. Either my history, or my journey from home, or even just call it post-colonized cultural world that I have inherited and inhabit.