On October 25, Nairobi’s One-Off Art Gallery will unveil Kind Human, a solo exhibition by self-taught artist Naomi Van Rampelberg.
The show brings together a striking collection of works that reveal Naomi’s distinctive and emotionally charged artistic style — one that feels at once personal and universal.
Naomi’s artistic roots run deep. The daughter of two self-taught artists, she followed naturally in their creative footsteps, turning what began as a family pastime into a full-time profession.
For the first 16 years of her life, she lived in Kenya before moving to France to complete high school, and later to Montreal, Canada, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Cultural Anthropology from Concordia University.
“Our Collective Resonance” pen on paper by Naomi Van Rampelberg, on display at the One Off Art Gallery.
Photo credit: Pool
She spent a decade in Montreal balancing odd jobs in event management, photography, and the service industry — the sort of early hustle familiar to many artists. All the while, she continued refining her craft, exploring glass painting and ceramics.
After returning briefly to Kenya to work in events, Naomi relocated to Rwanda, where she established a studio and shop, Nai Designs. It was during this period that she exhibited her glass-painted works at Hangar311 in Mechelen, Belgium, marking her growing international reach.
The pandemic years found her in Copenhagen, Denmark, where, inspired by her Belgian grandmother, she added knitting to her repertoire. But the solitude of lockdown also became a turning point. Naomi devoted herself fully to her paper, ink, and pencil creations — the foundation of the Kind Human exhibition.
Now staging her fourth solo show (and third at One-Off), Naomi’s practice continues to evolve in technique and sensitivity. Kind Human is far from simplistic.
Her larger pieces combine pen, paint, and paper — a demanding medium given the level of precision and layering involved. Many works feature miniature figurines interwoven with colour fields, producing compositions that feel both intricate and meditative.
Watercolour remains her preferred medium, chosen for its fluidity and unpredictability. “Paint takes its time,” she once remarked, and her patience shows: the fine detailing, subtle gradients, and compositional balance in her work speak of an artist deeply attuned to process.
“Kwibuka, They Walk Among Us,” pen on paper by Naomi Van Rampelberg, on display at the One Off Art Gallery.
Photo credit: Pool
Her darker-toned pieces, in particular, demonstrate a mastery of emotional contrast — the quiet tension between melancholy and beauty.
In Kind Human, Naomi seems to return to a central question: how tenderness survives complexity. Her art invites the viewer to look closely, not only at the paper’s surface but also within themselves — to rediscover, as the title suggests, what it means to remain kind and human.
