I opened the door to the art studio and found myself looking right at a pair of breasts. Welcome to painter Patrick “Panye” Mukabi’s fleshy world. Panye, 43, is inspired by the African woman, the beauty in her well- rounded figure, and the play of light and shadows on her body. Mukabi indulges in figurative painting. “As an African man, I paint what pleases my eye [and] that is the round African woman’s body.

Women are allowing, their expressions are always enamoring. Men never let their guard down and slim women do not possess the striking effect that the round figure does. I have a disease of painting women. Perhaps I need a doctor,” he says. Few artists on the African continent paint nude women. Mukabi’s endeavor is to paint one hundred such women. He explains, “Why one hundred? It’s the first number that comes to mind that is as whole as the women I paint.” Mukabi is a professional graphic designer. He attended the Kenya Polytechnic University College in Nairobi, and landed a nine-to-five job as soon as he graduated. “I quit the job after a week,” he says.

“I cannot work at a desk. My passion lies on canvas.” He is presently working on a series dubbed “cover girls” that features nude paintings of plus-size African women. Mukabi calls them his cover girls because they appear on his canvas as his models. “In this age, women are doing what it takes to be model small. My painting empowers the African woman. She gets to see herself from different eyes. Consequently, she understands that she is beautiful, powerful and can be taken as she is.” Deplorably, many do not understand his art, and Mukabi has had to deal with many faces of controversy from having his artwork carted to a police station on account of indecent exposure to dealing with insecure spouses and religious fanatics.

On nudity being a sin, he says, “Nudity is not a sin. If God wanted us to be dressed, He would have created jeans and a t-shirt on the seventh day. The paintings are not prurient or degrading. I feel sex sells everything except art.” To find Patrick Mukabi’s work, call him on 0723 708 065, or email him via This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .