Visual Artist | Muralist | Art Educator
Victoria Thuo, professionally known as Blaine 29, is a Kenyan visual artist and art educator celebrated for her dynamic work in painting, murals, and graffiti. Her artistic journey began at the age of 11, experimenting with crayons, watercolor, and colored pencils—an early exploration that sparked a lifelong passion for wet media.
A graduate of Kenyatta University, Blaine holds a Diploma (2016) and a Bachelor’s Degree (2023) in Fine Art and Design, where she majored in Painting. Her professional practice was shaped under the mentorship of renowned Kenyan artist Patrick Mukabi at the Dust Depo Art Studio, formerly located at the Railway Museum in Nairobi, among other key figures in the local art scene.
Blaine’s work delves into human emotions and psychology,using a vibrant, expressive color palette and stylized, often abstracted forms. Her style is best described as a fusion of abstract expressionism and pop art, driven by personal experiences, human interaction, and everyday life.She doesn’t base her work on canvas alone but rather explores different non-conventional surfaces:from glass,collected items,wood and sometimes even belts,among others.
She has exhibited her work in notable spaces including Alliance Française,Circle Art Gallery,Photizo Art Gallery,National Museums of Kenya,Usanii Mashariki Gallery,The Kenya Art Fair,The Collective Gallery and restaurant ,5Lenses Exhibition at The Mall, Westlands among others. Her public art and graffiti projects have been commissioned across Nairobi, including ,The Samosa Festival (Calif, Eastleigh),kukito,City Market,FIDA Main Office, Karura, and various private residences.Blaine has also been part of various residencies and workshops to name afew: under TICAH(trust for Indigenous culture),Rika and the Bristish council.
Blaine’s artwork has also appeared in prominent media campaigns and commercials such as KCB’s “Go Ahead,Always Ultra and the Netflix series Sense8.
She adopted the pseudonym Blaine 29—a powerful identity rooted in her birth date and graffiti practice—she sought to challenge gender norms in the male-dominated street art space and establish her distinct artistic voice.
Her personal motto, “Art is what you make it,”coined at the beginning of her professional journey, continues to define her evolving path in the visual arts. Blaine remains passionate about the growth and transformation of Kenya’s contemporary art scene.