Kerunen considers the process of making and unmaking to be central to her work. Her installations reposition heritage craft art, including textile art, embroidery and basketry―the artistry of which is often downplayed―firmly into the realm of fine art. She collaborates with skilled utilitarian artisans, most of them women, from the Great Lakes region of Africa, of which Uganda is a part.
The titles of her pieces are also deliberately chosen to reflect and honor her African culture and heritage. She uses regional languages Alur, Swahili, or Luganda for her titles, which reflect both her family background and the languages of the artisans she works with. Kerunen utilizes a number of traditional natural materials, including raffia, banana fiber, stripped sorghum stems, reeds, and palm leaves. She deconstructs colonialist, patriarchal narratives, centering and honoring history, women’s labor, the importance of community, nature, and artistic making.
