By Milcah Mathias

Blantyre, December 2, Mana: A visual artist, Cris Taulo says he drew his painting inspiration from the death of his mother who died in 2012.

Christopher Taulo, also known by his brand name Cris Taulo, revealed that the loss of his mother ignited his passion for art. He explained that his journey into painting was driven by grief, using it as a way to cope and find solace in his sorrow.

However, he said at first he did not start painting to build a career out of it.

“During that time, I saw that there was a possibility that I could make it into a career as people started approaching me and recommending my work,” said Taulo.

“My family was also going through a hard time financially, so I saw it fit that this could be a source of income for me to help the family; then I ventured into art as a career,” he added.

Taulo, who is also an art educator, began researching ways to bring his artwork to market. In 2018, he met veteran visual artist Peter Masina, a sculptor at the Museum of Malawi, who took on the role of his mentor.

The art educator, who is also hosting Cris Taulo's Crimson Solo Art exhibition from December 7 to December 14 at Kaliso Art Gallery in Lilongwe, said he came up with the “Crimson” theme because red colour symbolizes power, love, strength and has great impact to society.

Taulo, a Next Level Malawi 2024 certified graffiti artist is calling out for the corporate world and people with goodwill to support visual artists, saying this will inspire more visual artists in the country who think they cannot build a career out of it.

Speaking in a separate interview, Director of Kaliso Art Gallery, Evelyn Chisambiro said talented artists like Cris Taulo deserve the space to showcase their work for people to appreciate what they do.

“People can only know about artists when they put themselves out there, showcasing what they do and providing a platform like the Art Gallery is one way of promoting visual artists as well as arts in the country and even beyond for the development of Malawi,” said Chisambiro.

Chisambiro added that the exhibition will help the art industry in Malawi because this will be one way of promoting art on a global market and inspire Malawian talented visual artists to be confident enough so as to come out and sell out their works.

The event activities will include the opening night; whereby, he will showcase a short animation; workshops on painting; Sip and Paint; and on the other days he will be meeting with people who are inspired and interested to learn about art.