Walking through the National Museum, where Harrison Karanja’s exhibition All of Us at Once unfolds, it is hard not to appreciate the sheer range and diversity from a gifted artist who is not afraid of being different.
Harrison, better known as Scopt, took his first steps in art in 2006, encouraged by a friend while he was still a college student taking an accounting course.
He would walk all over campus with a sketchbook in hand, always scribbling, always doodling, always interested in transferring his surroundings into his sketchbooks.
“A friend told me of WAPI, an initiative run by the British Council, which held monthly shows in Upper Hill at the British Council offices.”
Harrison attended the next show and discovered a programme for dancers, musicians, rappers, and poets. For visual artists, the focus was largely on graffiti, a space where he began honing his craft under revered mentors like Smokillah, who not only taught him the fundamentals of graffiti but also gave him a wall to paint on and showcase his growing skills.
He continued his art practice while still studying, and upon graduation, joined the corporate world as an accountant. With no time to paint graffiti on the streets, Harrison became a studio artist making and selling his work online.
“My journey has been one of learning through experience and collaboration with other artists, which has allowed me to develop my own approach to curating artworks and creating themes or projects that evolve into cohesive bodies of work,” he says.
Major influences
As a self-taught artist who never attended art school, Harrison sought out mentors in his own way. His work has been shaped by three major influences: Gian Lorenzo Bernini, the Renaissance sculptor whose pieces emphasised movement, action, and expressive detail; Gerhard Richter, the German artist celebrated for his fearless experimentation across mediums and styles; and closer to home, Peterson Kamwathi, whose discipline and dedication to craft Harrison deeply admires, even without direct mentorship.
“I aspire to be at a level where my discipline allows me to grow and become a respected artist like him,” he says.
Wepesi 2.0: The status symbol, The Man and The Brave mixed media on canvas artwork by Harrison Karanja pictured on July 29, 2026 at the Nairobi National Museum of Kenya.
Photo credit: Billy Ogada | Nation Media Group
The Scoptism philosophy
In the exhibition, one notices a lot of techniques at play, but for a large part, it is abstract art and semi realism that take centre stage in Scopt’s portraits.
He attributes his style, which navigates through different terrains, to his self-made philosophy, which he christens as Scoptism, coined from his artistic name Scopt.
“This philosophy keeps me open to reinvention and experimentation, allowing me to explore new ideas and absorb diverse influences that shape each body of work. It is a deeply conceptual approach to art. We are in the era where all artists are contemporary artists, so now every artist is defining their own unique style.”
He avoids realism because it limits his ability to express himself. If he wanted a perfect likeness, he says, he would turn to photography or image transfers, which are faster and more precise. Abstract art, instead, allows him to distort figures and create subjects that are uniquely his.
Cost of non-conformity
Admittedly, this approach has distanced him from mainstream galleries that prefer artists with a fixed, signature style. But for Scopt, conforming to that script would only diminish his voice as an artist.
The kourney out 2.0 Acrylic on Canvas artwork by Harrison Karanja pictured on July 29, 2026 at the Nairobi National Museum of Kenya.
Photo credit: Billy Ogada | Nation Media Group
“I allow people to embrace me, in their own time. All I have to do is create the works, present them and allow them to absorb it as it is. I allow myself to keep on evolving,” he says.
His show embodies the spirit of offering audiences fragments of their own experiences, weaving connections between human emotions and shared realities. The works draw viewers into relatable references that feel both evocative and poignant, with subjects and suggestions that can be grasped almost instantly at a glance.
“In some of the paintings, you will find me suggesting cities which are being powered by renewable energy, and communities where everything is designed around collaboration, or systems that are guided by ecological coexistence rather than ecological destruction. Some of the paintings are more like suggestions or ideas that I have while other paintings are more like reflections of human nature,” he says.
Having chosen art, has the journey been worth it and what does he envision long- term?
“I believe that my art is inspired by one virtue; showing hope. I want my art works to give people hope and to show that no matter how bad things are, there is always a better day ahead.”
