Members & Friends Exhibition 2026: Meet the Artist - Ibrahim Kimotho

 

Introduction

Ibrahim Kimotho submitted a charcoal drawing titled "Beautiful Beast" which can be easily mistaken for a black & white photo, as the piece has fine detail from fur to skin wrinkles. But this is not the only compelling aspect of his work as we will come to find out in this interview.

Interview with Ibrahim Kimotho

1. What inspired your submission for this year's "Members and Friends" Exhibition, and were there any particular people, places, experiences or events that influenced it?

Beautiful Beast was inspired by difference in point of view. Last year I visited the Dublin Zoo in Phoenix Park with friends where we got to watch this gorilla that I thought was a gorgeous creature, however some of my friends felt it was intimidating and that's how the idea of Beautiful Beast was birthed.

2. What led you to choose the medium used for your work? How did it help you express your ideas?

I used charcoal because of its richness in tone which I thought would give me that raw feel to my creation. This can be experienced by observing the shadows around the eyes.  

3. What do you hope viewers take away from your work? Whether emotionally, intellectually or otherwise.

My wish is that Beautiful Beast will encourage viewers to embrace difference in opinions and also realize that a subject can have contrasting points of view.

4. Did your original vision for this piece change during its creation? If so, how and why?

Initially I had not planned on the gorilla to be blind-eyed but the idea came as I was hoping to portray an intimidating look.

5. Is there any particular significance behind the gorilla having one blind eye?

The reason behind the blind-eye on this gorgeous face is to showcase that imperfection and perfection can correlate/coexist.