Genius Loci

A stunning visual record of an artist’s voyage of discovery as she produced a powerful body of work inspired by the natural beauty and wilderness of the Kenyan landscape.

Sarah Graham sees the natural world in close-up. Taking plant and animal forms as her primary source, she focuses on one flower, insect, or bone formation at a time, approaching the subject from every perspective. In 2025, Graham uprooted to Africa, leaving behind the comfort of her London studio to work in the wilderness of Kenya. For several months, she lived near Lake Naivasha and the Samburu National Reserve. In a makeshift studio, she began creating work with what little she had to hand. The result was a powerful series of paintings and drawings that focus on the Musa acuminata (banana plant) and take inspiration from the untamed beauty of the Kenyan landscape.

Pushing boundaries with her boldest work to date, she explored the limits of gesture and abstraction. Form comes into being with subtle ink washes, stains, and seepages. Mottled pools puddle and soak into the canvas, drying to make glossy leaf sheaths. The work is a testament to the power of mark-making, bringing the natural world before us with a clear, unorthodox eye.

This beautiful publication, illustrated with stunning photography by the acclaimed photographer Miguel Flores-Vianna, chronicles the artist’s voyage of discovery as she ventured across the Kenyan landscape, working alongside roaming wild animals and accompanied by local Maasai tribespeople. Handwritten notes and letters throughout give the artist’s own account of the experience, reflecting on how her work, mind, and emotions evolved over her time away. A text by esteemed writer Fiammetta Rocco, who grew up in Kenya, explains the genesis of the project and Graham’s process of research and production of the work, which reveal the wonder and the strangeness of nature.