NGUO ART

Textile artists and close friends, Gail Pettiford Willett and Poppy Dade Milner have been creating their Nguo Art pieces for over seven years. The word, ‘nguo’ means ‘dresses or clothing’ in Swahili.

Gail and Poppy’s shared love of the color, design, and texture of fabrics has brought them together as artistic collaborators. They were originally inspired to create Nguo Art while traveling abroad and seeing examples of artists using fabric in unique ways. Once home, they dove into their treasure trove of African fabrics, collected over the years and decided to experiment with using cloth with wood and canvas. They designed dress shapes and, more recently dashikis cutting them from wood and choosing fabrics that flow with each design. Gail and Poppy love using the fabrics and figures to celebrate and represent the beauty, confidence, creativity, and strength of African culture.