Stillness Between Cultures: A Reflection on Sarah Muwanga’s Visual Language
By Zhilin Xiang
Sarah Muwanga’s visual language —vivid, textured, and emotionally resonant — invites viewers to sit in the world she creates and meditate. The quiet moment of detachment is a major theme in her painting. In her series “In the Pause”, the feeling of in-betweenness appears as a form of restoration and detachment. The subjects in the paintings are always at ease or seem to be immersed into a stream of consciousness.
Nomad
This piece captures a quiet moment of stillness. The figure is resting but not entirely at ease, slightly detached from her surroundings. The floral backdrop feels soft and almost dreamlike, but the outline holds her apart. It reflects that feeling of being present but slightly outside.
The use of color in Muwanga’s painting seems vibrant yet grounded. The tone and contrast are expressive — the exploding nature of the vibrant color casts a contrast between realism and emotional abstraction. In her painting “Nomad,” the soft color with solid outlines pinpoints a “state” of living, a state that is incorporated in the posture of the subject — the kind of detachment and reflection in between the stillness. The skin tone of her figure is always warm and luminous, as if it’s illuminated by the transient ideas that she had at the moment of meditation. The external color seems even more vibrant and vivid, as if it is in conversation with the inner world of the subject herself. The dialogue isn’t just within the subject, but with the outer world, to create the balance and mobility of the painting.
Muwanga centers the human figures in her painting, interplaying the tenderness and femininity into the soft textures to reveal intimacy and vulnerability. In paintings, Muwanga’s intention is never presenting something as perfection or ideal. Instead, it’s just relaxed, daily postures, flowing with the thoughts, reflection and day dream. This contrast and depiction forms a psychological landscape of stillness, and the juxtaposition of figure and abstraction amplifies a tension between the personal and the universal, between form and idea.
The texture and technique Muwanga employs in her painting intensified the emotional landscape. Leaving visible brush strokes, marks, Muwanga layers her paint and gives the canvas possibility to breathe. This technique enriches the emotional sediment and texture. Each layer of the painting carries the emotional weight to convey euphoria, doubts, regrets, and possibilities that shaped the painting as the beauty of momentum.
Besides the portrayal of women, Muwanga’s painting could be reflected as an echo of childhood and nostalgia. She captures the moment of a mother brushing hair for her children, quiet rooms of deep memories. The images are quiet and powerful — it’s the power of self-reservation and introspection. Her subjects are always looking inward instead of looking out at the viewers. The intimacy is portrayed with caution and control. With the quiet moments and stillness, the stories, memories, and vulnerability are awaiting the viewers to dive deep and explore.
Reflecting on the theme of her paintings, Muwanga’s expression through art can be both personal and resonant with a broader concept. The message she’s trying to deliver is never overtly aggressive. She’s cautious and introspective, inviting viewers to reflect on subjects like cultural identity, representation, and selfhood. By centering Black women, she gives this community warm attention and discusses its dynamics in a soft and gentle tone.
Muwanga gives special attention to details we overlook in daily life or the things we might easily brush through. The idea of pause and reflection invites introspection. When looking at the paintings, questions like “What are they waiting for?” might arise based on the posture of the subject in the paintings. Without direct depiction of action or narrative, the moment of stillness and waiting consists of the theme of her paintings. The kind of “stillness” enriches the liveliness of the paintings, giving them flesh and blood. On her website, she described how she works as “until the canvas feels ‘lived in’... leaving marks and textures that act like memory.” Slowing down, waiting for the moment, and breathing, Sarah Muwanga preserves the beautiful and subtle details that comprise our inner world.
Sarah Muwanga’s upcoming exhibition, “Borderline,” will be held at Fitzrovia Gallery in London from December 15th to 21st, 2025.
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About the Author
Zhilin is a writer and a lens-based visual artist based in Brooklyn and London. Their work explores themes of diaspora, identity, and collective memory, focusing on how collective memory impacts on individual identity.