Uman's Art on Display Around the City

Summary

All Of It – “Uman's Art on Display Around the City”

Host: Alison Stewart (WNYC)
Guest: Uman (Artist)
Original Air Date: October 29, 2025

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Episode Overview

This episode of All Of It explores the work and story of Uman, a Somali-born, Kenya-raised, and Albany-based visual artist whose art is currently featured in two major exhibitions: her first museum solo show at the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, Connecticut, and a new gallery show at Nicola Vassall Gallery in Manhattan. Host Alison Stewart converses with Uman about her creative process, her journey from East Africa to New York, the formative role of women in her life, and the meaning behind her immersive, mixed-media works.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

Preparing Two Concurrent Art Shows

• Dual Venues, Different Vibes:
  • Uman talks about the chaotic intensity of mounting two shows at once:

    "It's been a lot of chaos. Just waiting for Saturday so I can... take a breath and relax. It's been a wild year." (03:07)

  • The Aldrich exhibition (Ridgefield, CT) is described as "very meditative... about evolution and calmness and stillness," and runs until May.
  • The Nicola Vassall Gallery show (Chelsea, NYC) represents more "immediate work... explorations," presenting a contrast of stillness and dynamism. (03:27)

Mixed Media — Defining Uman’s Practice

• Approach to Materials:
  • Uman sees mixed media as essential to her identity as an artist:

    "It defines who I am... I don't like to be boxed in... I'm constantly experimenting and making things." (04:12)

  • She recounts a piece originally intended as a hinged window or door, converted instead into a ceiling-hanging series combining canvas with furniture upholstery:

    "It looked so beautiful, almost hypnotic, the little dots... I'm starting this as a new series." (05:47)

Art Rooted in Memory and Place

• Motifs and Personal History:
  • Uman describes wall-painting at Nicola Vassall Gallery featuring "tusks," a subconscious tribute to the iconic, colonial-era street tusks in Mombasa, Kenya:

    "There's this huge [set of] tusks on the street in Mombasa... built in the 50s, during colonial time. That just came to me—magical, you know? ...my little piece of memory in the show." (06:05)

Textile Manipulation and Process

• Sewing and Upcycling Canvases:
  • Uman recycles and sews together canvas scraps, treating them like a puzzle:

    "I never wanted to discard them... When you sew them together, they can become something beautiful... upcycled." (07:33)

• Unprimed Canvas and Paint Application:
  • She enjoys working with unprimed canvas, applying acrylics and oils directly by hand for a sense of authenticity:

    "I do prepare them with my hand without a brush, and I just smear the paint." (08:15)

Geometry, Scale, and Viewer Perspective

• Rhapsodic Abstraction and Scale:
  • Uman’s large canvases are structured with grids, each box "a different painting":

    "The big canvas comes first... The lines are not perfect, but [it] allows me to sit in these small spaces and make little worlds." (09:54)

• Vision and Intimacy:
  • She exploits her poor eyesight to view her work at varying distances, encouraging viewers to do the same:

    "Sometimes I paint without my glasses and then put them on and get a completely different perspective... I hope that people see them that way—go back and go closer to find something that makes sense to you." (10:37)

Influences: Childhood, Migration, and Being an Outsider

• Early Encounters with Art:
  • Uman didn’t truly "see" art until adulthood in Europe, despite being surrounded by beauty in East Africa:

    "We had art around us, but... no explanation or definition for what it was... I didn't see art, in a sense, until I was in Europe." (11:20)

• Formative Role of Women:
  • The significant influence of her aunties and other women figures, providing affirmation and freedom:

    "Women have been very important in my life... Those adults are important in children's lives... And allowing you to be yourself, that’s one thing my aunts did for me." (12:31–13:29)

  • Uman acknowledges the challenge of rebellion within a conservative culture and the importance of travel (Denmark, New York) for personal freedom:

    "If you're a rebel... you have this backlash." (13:49)
    "I think New York was the first place I ever felt quite alone, in a good way..." (14:12)

New York City, Upstate, and Creative Solitude

• Arriving in New York:
  • Uman tells of arriving naive but "fearless," embracing the city’s freedom and energy:

    "I was very naive and... fearless. You have your youth, and you're fearless... It gave me that early freedom to be myself and run wild." (15:06)

• Seeking Space, Country Life, and Animals:
  • Drawn to upstate New York for room to work and dream of countryside living, complete with sheep, chickens, and “a smaller, more achievable” slice of English pastoralism:

    "This need to have space was always there... I used to read these old English magazines... I always wanted to have that, you know." (16:32–17:37)

• Discipline and Voice:
  • Years of solitary artistic practice, sans gallery representation, helped her refine both routine and creative voice:

    "I was just working and working. I worked like as if I did [have gallery rep]... It gave me the discipline to find my voice." (17:42)

• Return to Urban Proximity with Albany Studio:
  • Recent move to Albany for connection, accessibility, and strategic studio location:

    "No one has an excuse not to come visit me because I'm seven minutes from the Amtrak... I needed this exposure." (18:10)

The Aldrich Museum Show – A Shift in Perspective

• Curators and Institutional Space:
  • Uman expresses gratitude for curator Amy Stewart and reflects on the shift from anti-institution outsider to museum exhibitor:

    "I've always said this is not the path for me... But it came at the perfect time... It is great to have a curator have faith in you and give you the space to just be free." (19:11)

From Union Square to Two Major Exhibitions

• From Humble Beginnings to Recognition:
  • Uman sold artwork in Union Square before these major shows; now, reflecting on the emotional weight and gratitude she feels:

    "It's really good. Emotionally, I could cry just thinking about it... I feel truly blessed, really do." (20:54)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Mixed Media and Creative Identity:
  • “It defines who I am... I don't like to be boxed in, you know, so I do love... I'm constantly experimenting and making things.” — Uman (04:12)
• On Childhood Influences:
  • “Those adults are important in children's lives. And allowing you to be yourself, that's one thing my aunts did for me was like, yeah, you're okay.” — Uman (13:29)
• On Embracing Artistic Recognition:
  • “It's really good. It's really good emotionally. I could cry just thinking about it... I feel truly blessed, really do.” — Uman (20:54)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [03:07] – Chaos of preparing two concurrent exhibitions
• [04:12] – Mixed media as central to Uman’s practice
• [06:05] – Painting tusks and memories of Mombasa
• [07:33] – Sewing and upcycling canvas scraps
• [09:54] – Large canvases, grid structures, and viewer engagement
• [11:20] – First meaningful encounters with art
• [12:31–13:29] – The vital role of aunties and women mentors
• [15:06] – Arriving in New York: fearlessness and early freedom
• [16:32–17:37] – Moving upstate: a longing for country and solitude
• [17:42] – Discipline and finding her voice through solitary practice
• [18:10] – Move to Albany for community and exposure
• [19:11] – Stepping into institutional recognition at the Aldrich
• [20:54] – Emotional impact of recognition and gratitude

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Conclusion

This episode offers an intimate look at Uman’s artistic world—a blend of memory, migration, material experimentation, and deep gratitude. Her reflections traverse continents and cultures, affirming the importance of creative freedom, personal history, mentorship, and perseverance in carving out space for one’s unique vision. Those interested in abstraction, mixed media, and immigrant or queer narratives in contemporary art will find Uman’s journey—and her warmth—illuminating and inspiring.

Transcript

[WNYC Announcer]

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[Alison Stewart]

This is all of It on WNYC. I'm Alison Stewart. We are having quite a week here on the show. Last night our book club met at the New York Public Library. It was a huge crowd, a fantastic author.

[Uman]

Thank you.

[Alison Stewart]

Thank you to SA Cosby and a great audience. Special props to musical guest Yaya bae. If you didn't get a chance to be there in person, we'll play excerpts on the show next week and coming up tomorrow, it's the latest in our Broadway on the Radio events. We'll be joined in the green space with the cast and band of the Tony Award winning musical Hadestown. They will perform live in front of a studio audience. If you've already purchased a ticket, I will see you there. If you didn't, you can follow along on our head to wnyc.org events to find out how. And of course you can listen live on the radio at noon. That is coming up tomorrow. Now let's get this hour started. This month you can see the work of an artist, Uman at two shows including her first museum solo exhibit. Her work is currently on view at the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, Connecticut. The show is called after all the Things and starting tomorrow you can also see her paintings at Nicola Vassall Gallery in Chelsea at 138 10th Avenue at 18th Street. That show is called I Love youe After Everything. A sample of work from both shows is on our Instagram now. If you'd like to look and listen, it is of it WNYC Uman joins me to discuss her story from a childhood in East Africa to establishing a studio in downtown Albany. I'm so glad that you are here in studio with me.

[Uman]

Thanks for having me.

[Alison Stewart]

You have two shows going up at the same time. One in Manhattan, one in Ridgefield. First of all, what has the past month been like preparing two shows?

[Uman]

It's been a lot of chaos. Just waiting for Saturday so I can feel. Yeah. I can take a breath and relax. It's been a wild year.

[Alison Stewart]

Are the two shows, are they in conversation with one another?

[Uman]

Yes. So the Aldrie show is more like a very meditative show. It's going to be there until May of next year. And that is a show about evolution and calmness and stillness. And I thought that the Nicola show would be very important to do something of the now of immediate work that I'm doing. Explorations. And so one is more immediate and one is more calmer.

[Alison Stewart]

I love you. After everything, the New York show at Nicola Vassall Gallery, it's a lot of mixed media.

[Uman]

Right.

[Alison Stewart]

What do you like about working with mixed media?

[Uman]

It's just. It defines who I am, I think. I like. I don't like to be boxed in, you know, So I do love. At one point, I had a painting that I had made on glass, and it didn't make it to the show. But so I'm constantly experimenting and making things. And mixed media is really, really like the definition of my work.

[Interviewer]

I would say it's interesting.

[Alison Stewart]

There's a piece that's hanging from the ceiling.

[Uman]

Right.

[Alison Stewart]

It's floor to ceiling. If people want to see it, they should go to our. I took a picture of it yesterday. Will you tell us a little bit about this piece? Because there's so much going on. Yeah.

[Uman]

This piece was actually meant to be on hinges against the wall, but sometimes things don't work out when you're planning a show. And I think I made it too big for the space. It's supposed to be a door or a window. And I've always loved shutters. And I always loved how some people have shutters that have decorative aspects to them. And I found this upholstery that is sort of discontinued, made for furniture. And I thought I would combine that with the canvas. And it looked so beautiful, almost like hypnotic, the little dots. And so I'm starting this as a new series. So this is just one of hopefully few more to come.

[Alison Stewart]

Oh, that's exciting.

[Uman]

Yeah.

[Alison Stewart]

And then when you look to the.

[Interviewer]

Right in the gallery, there's this painted.

[Alison Stewart]

Blue wall and it looks like there's.

[Interviewer]

Arches painted, but they're not actually arches. Yeah, they're tusks.

[Uman]

They're tusks, yeah.

[Alison Stewart]

Please explain to us what the tusks.

[Interviewer]

Mean in this passage.

[Uman]

So I came. I went to the gallery on Sunday, and I had no idea. I think sometimes the best way to start something, you know, never ever. Planning is always good, but no plans. I found myself painting these tusks. And I have this memory of growing up in Mombasa in East Africa. And my family, we used to go have. In fact, I remember the name of the restaurant. It's called Wimpy's. And they served hamburgers and chips, and we used to go on Sundays or certain once a month or so. And there's this huge tasks on the street in Mombasa. They're like, on both sides of the street. And so it's something that was built in the 50s, during colonial time. And that just came to me, sort of like magical, you know? And the blue color on the wall was sort of like an evening blue. And I just thought this. I had no idea. It's like the best thing that just comes out of your subconscious and. Yeah, just my little piece of memory in the show.

[Interviewer]

And as you look closely at the canvases, you realize that they're sewn together in various ways, and then you paint on them. Is that right? When did you begin sewing canvases together?

[Uman]

Probably three to four years ago. I found myself collecting all the scraps, and I never wanted to discard them, and I wanted to see if I can make use of them. And so I realized they're like a puzzle. When you sew them together, they can become something beautiful. And then painting on them was, like, just ideal. And I really, really enjoy those stitched up. Recycled. I would say upcycled. Upcycled, yeah.

[Interviewer]

And I read in the Aldrich show that you like to use unprimed canvas. Is this the same as the sewing, or is this different?

[Uman]

Unprimed, yes. Some of the pieces in the Nicola show, Right. They are unprimed. I go directly on the canvas with the color, and I start with acrylics, and then I go over it in oils. And these paintings are much more. I guess they feel more like authentic and real to me because I do prepare them with my hand without a brush, and I just smear the paint. And, yeah, I like doing that. And sometimes you have to prime. I think the paintings at the Aldrich were primed because I started oils directly onto the canvas.

[Interviewer]

I'm speaking with Uman. You can see her work at two spaces in our area starting tomorrow at the Nicola Vassall Gallery at 138 10th Avenue and at the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield Connecticut. So, Nicola Vassall describes your work in their gallery as rhapsodic abstraction through the instrument of geometry. They're these beautiful, gorgeous paintings. They're almost floor to ceiling, and they're full of, like, grid, like structures, like small areas that look like boxes. Some are blank, some have images in them. When you're looking at a piece of work like that and you know you're gonna paint something as large as that, as big a canvas as that, how do you start with the smaller scale? It's like it's very big, but then when you. When you look at it, it's broken down into small, small boxes. Do the boxes come first? Do the big canvas come first? Does it.

[Uman]

The big canvas comes first. And in a sense, the lines are not perfect, but allows me to sit in these small spaces and make little worlds. That's how I look at them. And so each grid square is a different painting, and it allows me to be confined, yet free and not have this restriction where everything has to match and look a certain way.

[Alison Stewart]

It's interesting because when you get closer, they're very different when you're far back in the room versus when you get closer. Do you keep that in mind?

[Uman]

I do, yeah. I was explaining to someone how I have very bad vision, and so sometimes I paint without my glasses and then put them on and get a completely different perspective. So I go back and forth and. Yeah, I like that part where I can see the paintings as something else and then see these little fine details. And I hope that people see them that way, in a sense, go back and go closer to find something that makes sense to you.

[Alison Stewart]

What do you remember about the first time that you experienced art as a person in your lifetime?

[Uman]

I was probably an adult. The culture I grew up in was never. We had art around us, but it was no explanation or definition for what it was. And so surrounded by colors and textiles and all these beautiful things, even doors. And like, Mombasa is a town I remember very vividly because I was coming of age, in a sense, and I just remember these beautiful old doors. It's an island town with many types of people who have come through this coast. You know, the Portuguese, the Arabs, the Indians, and so it's very beautiful. I didn't see art, in a sense, until I was in Europe and started to see museums. And it wasn't like something I was privy to.

[Alison Stewart]

When you were a child, where did you grow up? You grew up in.

[Uman]

I grew up in. Well, I grew up partly in Somalia, and then Kenya, and then moved to Denmark and New York.

[Alison Stewart]

You had aunties, which you lived with when you were young. What did your aunties mean to you?

[Uman]

Always important. You know, women have been very important in my life. In fact, I was one of those kids who had older women friends in the neighborhood.

[Alison Stewart]

Oh, you had friends?

[Uman]

Yes. So I had aunties who were, like, really, really great. But then I could be free with these older women who are in the neighborhood. So I would go to school and come home and then go next door, and I learned so much from them, and my family was not approving of it, but the aunties are so important, so I've sort of become one now. I have nieces and nephews and people who reach out to me and ask for advice and.

[Alison Stewart]

Yeah, that's important.

[Uman]

It's very important.

[Alison Stewart]

Those adults are important in children's lives.

[Uman]

Yeah. And allowing you to be yourself, that's one thing my aunts did for me was like, yeah, you're okay. You're not that. Don't think what people say about you. And so it gives you a little bit of a boost.

[Alison Stewart]

Did people want you to sort of stay on the mainstream?

[Uman]

Right.

[Alison Stewart]

Yeah.

[Uman]

Who come from a very conservative culture. And if you're a rebel or somehow think a little differently from everyone, you have this backlash, you know, and the family doesn't want that, so.

[Alison Stewart]

And you found it through travel to leave to find a new home.

[Uman]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

And that was New York or Paris.

[Alison Stewart]

That was first.

[Interviewer]

Paris.

[Uman]

No. Denmark.

[Interviewer]

Denmark.

[Uman]

Yeah. These places were like landing grounds. I think New York was the first place I ever felt quite alone, in a good way, because most immigrants move to a country, they always stay in these communities. And so even living in Denmark was like family everywhere, people keeping tabs. Things get back home, you know?

[Alison Stewart]

Yes. Gotcha.

[Uman]

So coming to New York, I was truly alone, but it was the best thing for me.

[Alison Stewart]

I'm speaking with Uman. You can see her work at two spaces in our area starting tomorrow at the Nicola vassal gallery at 10th Avenue and 18th street and at the Ulrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, Connecticut. When you first came to New York, what were your first impressions?

[Uman]

I was very naive and. But also fearless. You know, I think for so many years, you have this thing, you know, your youth, and you're fearless, and then you reach a certain point and you start getting worried about getting older and not taking. And not taking risks. So I love that part of being in New York. It gave me that early freedom to be myself and run wild.

[Alison Stewart]

Where did you get inspiration for Your art when you came to New York?

[Uman]

I watched a lot of. I love street art, you know, obviously, and so I'm self taught. So everything is just all about absorbing my surroundings, my life. And New York was very rapid and fast and. And I'm very happy I experienced that because once I left the city, moved to the country, it was like I had this quiet moment, stillness. And I appreciated that silence for a long time.

[Alison Stewart]

Yeah, I want to tell people that you were in New York City, but then you moved upstate. And when you moved upstate, what were you looking for creatively?

[Uman]

Creatively, I was looking for space to work. And two, I was looking for. I've always had this dream of living in the country and having animals.

[Alison Stewart]

Animals? What kind of animals?

[Uman]

Well, I had a couple of sheep at one point and it was too much work. For two years I had sheep and I kept chickens for about eight years. And I have my dogs and I have my cats and I come from a family of 10. So this need to have space was always there. Since I was a child, I was like, I'm going to grow up in. I used to read these old English magazines and they were like, I don't know if it was Reader's Digest. And they used to have these English countryside homes. And I always wanted to have that, you know. And so I had a smaller, more achievable version of that in upstate New York. And it was great.

[Interviewer]

How has that worked itself into your art?

[Uman]

Many years of practice and painting just for the sole purpose of painting. I had no gallery representation. I was just working and working. I worked like as if I did. And I had this structure where I would work and do household things, take care of my animals. And it gave me the discipline to find my voice.

[Interviewer]

And you have a studio in Albany?

[Uman]

I do. I moved there after Covid. I think that time. Yeah, I was in more isolation and I'm living even further from Abilene, about an hour and 20 minutes. And I decided Albany is the place to be at this point. And I need to reconnect with the city. And no one has an excuse not to come visit me because I'm seven minutes from the Amtrak. So it was very strategic but also very important because I had finally reached this place where I was. I'm going to push myself and not have this silence, you know, anymore. I needed this exposure.

[Interviewer]

Folks can go see your work at the Nicola Vassall Gallery. It's right downtown. But for folks who want to go out to Ridgefield, Connecticut and see your Aldrich show, Tell me a little bit about the process of putting that show together.

[Uman]

I met with Amy Stewart, who is such a great curator, a wonderful human. I, I'm so grateful I met her because she gave me this freedom to do a museum show. And I've always said this is not the path for me. I told Nicola that because I always felt like an outsider and so I think I was anti institution, anti establishment. And so I said I just want to show my work. I don't need to be in an institution. But it came at the perfect time. Amy came to see me and offered me this show. I said, well, it's Connecticut, it's not too far and it's been really, really good. It's been really good to have the space to do things that I would never do. Like I'm showing a on the show, which is just a compilation of snow that I shot over the past since 2012 to 2025 and a big sculpture of a lamp. It is great to have a curator have faith in you and give you the space to just be free. And that's what I had.

[Interviewer]

You have two big shows happening at the same time and you got your start selling your art in Union Square.

[Uman]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

What does it mean for you emotionally at this moment?

[Uman]

It's really good. It's really good emotionally. I could cry just thinking about it and, and I get emotional thinking about how far I've come, but how much more I have to go. But I feel truly blessed, really do.

[Interviewer]

You can see Uman's work at Nicola Vassal Gallery at 138 10th Ave. At 18th street starting tomorrow and at the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, Connecticut. Thank you for making the time for us during this very busy time for you.

[Uman]

Thank you so much.

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