Through stylised portraits and still lifes, fine artist Terence Maluleke artfully depicts life, community and the human body.

Johannesburg-based Terence Maluleke’s journey into painting wasn’t a direct one, coming after he first established himself as a gifted visual developer for prominent animation studios such as Walt Disney and Triggerfish. But luckily for Terence and his growing fanbase, his foray into the world of fine art has been a roaring success – it even led to a solo exhibition at Southern Guild in Cape Town in October/November 2023. Titled “Grace in Grand-Bassam”, the show is a vivid reflection of a month-long residency at La Fourchette de Rōze in the coastal town of Grand-Bassam on the outskirts of Abidjan in Côte d’Ivoire. In a series of large-scale paintings depicting the local community, Terence focuses on the human body, showcasing the angular movements of dancing figures, synchronised soccer players, and a detailed portrayal of a man in prayer. Throughout these scenes, a recurring symbol is the jelly sandal known locally as lêkê – a unifying element that transcends age, gender and social status.

Here, Terence shares his creative process and inspiration – and his love for good cowboy boots.

My creative approach is deeply rooted in observation, research and refinement through repetition. My figurative works intend to capture the subject’s subtle feelings, which are more often felt rather than seen. Much of the process involves observing my surroundings very closely to find interesting forms and rich colours, as well as feelings and textures. Then I pick up my iPad or sketchbook, whichever is closest. I start to combine the various elements and sensations to eventually find what feels most authentic. I believe that beautiful things come from trying… and trying again.

My artistic philosophy is evolving constantly, but I have a longstanding relationship with repetition. The more I repeat a subject or a technique, the more I understand its true essence. The act of repetition really elevates my technical skill and enriches my internal visual library. My approach also relies on observing a subject from many angles. This allows me to uncover the subject’s multifaceted nature, poignantly echoing the sentiment that every situation can be viewed from many perspectives.

Acrylic on canvas is my preferred medium. I also work digitally, which is rooted in my background in animation. Creating digital works offers me the freedom to explore ideas without the pressure of permanence.

I create works that are conceptually driven by what truly interests me. This will always hold more significance than meeting the external demands of what’s deemed “commercially viable”. What currently interests me also seemingly resonates with the world, so it’s a win-win.

My work doesn’t consciously seek to fill cultural or identity roles. My practice reflects my ideas, free from overarching narratives or representational burdens. I’m just a guy making art and finding meaning along the way – but I’m a person with context, so a narrative inevitably makes its way into the work anyway.

There are three recurring symbols in my current work: the calla lily, the lêkê shoe, and Jesus’ Crown of Thorns. I’ll only unpack the lily today. It’s a symbol of empathy. I explore it in various geometric shapes and colour variations; in fact, the lily’s delicate folds hold particular significance. Like a paper plane, the folds represent wings that are bent, but not broken. This serves as a personal reminder that one day you will fly – or, in this case, blossom.

Singling out a favourite work of mine is challenging. Rather, I find that specific vignettes within a painting often become particularly captivating to me. There are moments within my works where the colours are layered and feel reminiscent of printmaking, when the register of the print is slightly off so it exposes an imperfect lining of the print. Yeah, I dig that.

I recently had to direct an animated short for Disney called “Hatima”, as part of the Afrofuturist animated anthology series Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire. At the same time, I was trying to nurture my fine art career. Daylight hours were reserved for the film, and nights were spent on my art. I never want to rush the art-making process. I want to ensure I have enough time to produce work that I’m genuinely proud of, and that I resonate with deeply.

Lately, I’ve been drawn to the work of visual artist Sinalo Ngcaba. Her art exudes a vibrant expressiveness that’s reminiscent of vintage African party posters. The confidence in her colour choices really resonates with me.

If money wasn’t a consideration, I would buy Henry Taylor’s “Elan Supreme”, and the elusive “Cherub Playing a Lute” by Rosso Fiorentino.

Côte d’Ivoire remains my top destination for creative inspiration. For art appreciation, Italy stands unparalleled.

I enjoy working in a square format, which comes from the influence of the Instagram grid. I’m also into cowboy boots – I hope that never changes, but let’s see!

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A visual journey of cultural connections between Brazil and South Africa.

Ahead of her first solo photo exhibition in South Africa, we chat with the Brazilian photographer Renata Larroyd. Titled ‘Shared Roots,’ the exhibition delves into the cultural connections between Brazil and South Africa. It’s happening throughout February at the Nosso decor and lifestyle store in Sea Point. The exhibition launch is set for Monday, February 5, at 5 pm, featuring a talk-and-walkabout with Renata.

Tell us more about this exhibition and what visitors can expect?

At the Nosso store, visitors can expect an immersive journey into a world where storytelling, culture, and art converge. I’ve curated a visually captivating and culturally rich experience that goes beyond a mere display of photographs. I’ll be hosting an interactive storytelling session on Monday evening, the opening of the exhibition, where visitors can engage directly with the narratives behind the photographs. This is an opportunity to provide insights into the cultural contexts, personal stories, and the creative process involved in capturing each image. Exclusive limited edition prints of select photographs will be available for art enthusiasts and collectors.

What makes this body of work so unique?

I invited two talented embroiderers, Patrícia Saraiva and Rosele Martins, to intervene in the photographic images, creating a symbiosis between photography and textile art. The embroidery duo contributed embroidery, texture, and dynamism to everyday Afro-Brazilian life during this ancestral Bahian journey. By joining forces with these artists, the partnership breathes new life into the images, infusing each photo with rich Brazilian craft, tradition, and Bahian culture.

When and how did your relationship with South Africa begin?

It all started back in 2005 when we opened our family home to a bright and adventurous exchange student from South Africa as part of the Rotary Youth Exchange program. Welcoming this young individual into my family not only deepened my understanding of the rich cultural tapestry of the country but also sparked a personal connection that would later influence my career.

Then in 2018, I took a transformative step by enrolling in the Photojournalism and Documentary Photography Program at the Market Photo Workshop in Newtown, Johannesburg. The decision to move to South Africa was a conscious choice to immerse myself in a culture to dedicate myself solely to photojournalism, focusing on social issues in Africa related to education, gender, and local subcultures.

The following year, as an alumna of this program, I found myself contributing to the cultural and social dialogues of South Africa through The Mail & Guardian.

My interest in ethno-photography has a lot to do with the years I spent in Johannesburg. I then returned to Brazil, and following Covid, I started a new line of research in photography: the influence of African culture on everyday life in Brazil.

What would you say are some of the cultural ties between Brazil and South Africa?

The cultural ties between these two countries are evident in the vibrant spirit of both regions. During my time in Bahia, Brazil, I couldn’t help but draw parallels to the lively atmosphere and rich cultural expressions I found in South Africa.

The rhythmic beats and colourful street celebrations, reminiscent of Brazilian carnivals, echoed the dynamic energy of South African festivals. The music traditions, such as samba in Brazil and various genres in South Africa, showcase the influence of African rhythms and how they contribute to a vibrant music scene that always inspires my photographs.

Brazil and South Africa have a history of diverse indigenous influences and colonial legacies, contributing to unique artistic expressions, dance forms, and storytelling traditions. Both countries emphasize the importance of festive and communal gatherings, especially on the streets. Africa’s influence on Brazilian culture is profound and diverse, stemming from the country’s history of African slavery and the subsequent blending of African traditions with indigenous and European cultures.

This exhibition will also show Afro-Brazilian religions with roots in African spiritual traditions, where they incorporate rituals, dances, and ceremonies that honour deities.

How did your journey as a photographer begin and what drew you to this art form?

The camera my parents used to have during my childhood always caught my attention. It was a gift from my grandmother, and I found myself captivated by the way it froze moments in time. The ability to capture emotions, tell stories, and express creativity through visual art drew me into the world of photography.

I never really thought photography could become my profession; I have a business degree. At the age of 26, after having lived in 6 different countries, I realized I wasn’t happy at all. So, I joined the Career Coaching Program, and there I started to receive the first inputs towards photography and also building self-awareness and strengths.

The first photography course I did was as a hobby, and after that, I never really stopped studying it. Over time, my passion for photography deepened as I explored different genres, from portraits to landscapes, street photography to abstract art. The continuous learning process in the field kept me engaged and motivated. Photography became more than a hobby; it has become a medium through which I can share my unique perspective and connect with others.

What would you say you are known for?

As a documentary photographer, my lens is my storytelling tool. I am known for my ability to easily connect with my subjects. Capturing raw and genuine emotions in my portrait photography. Whether it’s joy, vulnerability, or introspection, I strive to tell compelling stories through the eyes and expressions of what and who I photograph.

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H&M has collaborated with British contemporary artist Lakwena Maciver for its new kidswear collection, which features bold text and kaleidoscopic colours.

“A lot of my work is about bringing joy and hope to public spaces. I want to build people and places up, rather than tearing them down. For this project I was thinking a lot about the values I want to instil in my three children, and in the younger generations in general, that will help to build them up: resilience, curiosity, and courage. I like to think that this bright, bold H&M collection will help send messages of positivity and freedom out into the world,” says artist Lakwena Maciver.

Lakwena is best known for her paintings, murals and public installations, which spotlight messages of hopeful possibility and reference shared experiences and popular culture. Her colourful artworks have been showcased globally, from London to Los Angeles, and have embellished buildings as varied as the Bowery Wall in New York and a monastery in Vienna.

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H&M’s new kidswear collection, created in collaboration with Lakwena, features her signature vibrant colours, evocative texts, and bold patterns that spark joy. 

“Confident and colourful, this smile-inducing collection provides a dose of optimism for our younger customers thanks to the distinctive visual language of Lakwena. We’re thrilled to collaborate with an artist whose eye-catching work promotes positive messages of love, unity and empowerment, offering our young customers a unique opportunity to express themselves,” says Sofia Löfstedt, head of design and creative H&M kidswear.

The Lakwena X H&M collection features easy-to-wear T-shirts, hoodies, denim, a T-shirt dress, and vibrant accessories for kids. The collection is currently available at selected H&M stores and online from superbalist.com.

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Five prominent contemporary artists, namely Billie Zangewa, Ewa Juszkiewicz, Liza Lou, Tursic & Mille, and Ziping Wang, infuse their distinctive creative perspectives into Louis Vuitton’s 2023 Artycapucines Collection.

Since the first collection in 2019, the Capucines bag – named after Rue Neuve-des-Capucines, the Parisian street where Louis Vuitton opened his first store in 1854 – has provided a perfect blank canvas for 29 contemporary artists to create an Artycapucines.

This new collection sees artist Billie Zangewa – born in Malawi and based in South Africa – employ intentionally imperfect patchworks of raw silk to craft landscapes and portraits. Her Artycapucines showcases her 2020 masterpiece “The Swimming Lesson,” which features her son Mika.

The original image’s bronze background was reproduced by scanning a piece of raw silk, including its creases and natural imperfections, and transferring the resulting image to soft leather with high-definition printing. This was attached to the bag with deliberately uneven handcrafted stitching. The swimming pool in the original work was reproduced using a variety of threads and embroidery techniques, with hand-stitched beads to create sparkling reflections. The figure of Mika was achieved through meticulous embroidery with metallic thread.

Long interested in female identity and its suppressed role in the Western canon, Polish painter Ewa Juszkiewicz transferred her characteristically striking and surrealist 2021 work “Ginger Locks” to a Capucines using a high-definition print, set off by a string of golden pearls.

American artist Liza Lou embossed subtle and beautifully textural bead work into the soft leather, which she then delicately printed in pastel colours and draped around the Capucines bag like a sculptural second skin.

Franco-Serbian artistic duo Tursic & Mille reinvented the bag in their signature flower shape which they used as a frame for a richly embroidered and coloured version of their 2021 painting “Tenderness”, accompanied by a charred cedarwood handle and inlaid LV logo.

Chinese artist Ziping Wang’s mini Artycapucines is the smallest bag in the collection so far; a delightful confection of leather patchwork and marquetry in bright vivid colours and candy-sweet motifs, and a powerful comment on our visually saturated and self-reflexive world.

The Artycapucines Collection contains a total of 29 distinctive designs by celebrated artists from across the world. Each special bag is further proof of how for over a century Louis Vuitton has continuously placed its innovative spirit and artisanal expertise at the service of artists and their creativity, from Louis Vuitton’s grandson Gaston-Louis commissioning work back in the 1920s to collaborations with legends such as Sol LeWitt, Yayoi Kusama, Richard Prince, and Takashi Murakami, to the opening of the Frank Gehry-designed Fondation Vuitton in 2014.

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UK-based artist Jo Hummel’s work is characterised by a painted and paper collaged surface on which she employs spontaneous variations of space, colour and form. Cape Town-based Art Director and curator Alastair Whitton⁣ sat down to talk with Jo ahead of her‎ first solo‎ exhibition on the African continent titled‎ Looking Out.

On encountering your work for the first time I could not help but think of Henri Matisse’s large ‘cut out’ and masterful collage, titled ‘The Snail’ (1953) that hangs at TATE Britain in London. What affinity, if any, do you have with the work of this late great artist, whose latter works arguably paved the way for abstraction?

Along with Artists such as Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso, Matisse was undoubtedly part of group of trail blazers presenting collage as painting in the early 20th century, and for that I am grateful to him but I think largely, the similarities stop there. My work is concerned with the action of collage painting and I have found little to suggest that Matisse shared the same modus. Although he did talk in detail about the strength of colour relationship and proportions of form over figuration so perhaps we did share an affinity here. I did find a quote by Matisse where he says “It has bothered me all my life that I do not paint like everybody else” And I can relate, except In contrast I am not bothered by it at all.

Seemingly resolute in their preoccupation with form and colour, you have indicated that while your constructed paintings, made from shapes of cut out painted paper, are physically engaged and materially driven, their context is purposefully anthropological. Perhaps you could explain this seeming dichotomy?

When describing the work in this way what I am referring to is the experience of making the work itself and how that informs the practice. In the past I have referred to this as a phenomenological study, meaning I am studying my own consciousness. For me painting functions as a psychologically exploratory activity, wherein conscious intention and decision regarding the formal aspects of the work might be or beget behaviours and artefacts upon which an intimate reading of unconscious influence may be made. Every day is an expedition of intimate and intense self-research.

Although for a number of years now, aspects of figuration and notions of race, identity and sexuality have arguably been the dominant discourse in contemporary art, there seems, particularly in Europe, to be signs of a resurgence in abstraction. Firstly, would you agree with this observation and if so tell us how and where you see your work contributing to this conversation?

Yes I agree there seems to be a resurgence in Contemporary Abstraction in Europe although I will admit that my radar is abstract centric. I’ve noticed a wave of hard edge, geometric and reductive painting.

Throughout history and particularly in indigenous culture there are stories and identities embedded in shapes, colours and patterns. My work was borne out of foraging for found material, discarded paper bags, vintage wall paper, book jackets and like. Everyday items from everyday lives. Interlaced within my practice are socio-political concerns surrounding the biosocial parameters influenced by the British class system. I tend not to harp on about it but if you look closely you will see that my process, my materials and my politics are firmly rooted in anti-classism.

To date your work has been presented in group presentations at institutions like the Royal Academy and Saatchi Gallery in London and more recently you have held solo exhibitions in Barcelona and Munich with your first museum show coming up at the Vasarely Foundation in France. Your solo exhibition in January at Barnard Cape Town, as well the inclusion of your work on their booth at the forthcoming Investec Cape Town Art Fair, represents your first engagement on the African continent. Perhaps you could share your thoughts on this and what this opportunity means to you both personally and professionally?

Because I’m not based in central London I don’t expect to gain from its resources, and I look further afield for engagement. Reaching an international audience has always been an important strategy for creating a sustainable practice and travelling with the work is one of my greatest joys. At my solo exhibition in Barcelona my exhibition text was translated into Spanish, which a visitor translated for a friend into Turkish, whom I then had a long conversation with about the concepts in English and its fascinating how different cultures offer a different lens from which to view and make sense of the ideas. I learn a lot in situations such as this. To exhibit a solo body of work and be included in an art fair presentation on the African continent is an absolute privilege, and I’m very much looking forward to hearing people’s response!

Finally, and closer to home, despite being born on the UK mainland and having studied at the Royal College of Art in London, you and your family now reside on the Isle of Wight. Does being situated close to the sea and specifically living on an island have any bearing on your work and practice?

I’ve always liked Islands. Culturally, there’s an independent identity to island communities, people are tightly knit and proud of their home. I’m most energised when I am in the natural environment. I love cities, I lived in London for many years and I enjoy travelling to foreign cities but my work has a spiritual home by the sea. It represents so much, figuratively and metaphorically. It wasn’t until I relocated back to the coast that I discovered my authentic voice in painting. I like to retreat mentally into a private space when I’m making work and living on an island is the physical representation of that. Logistically it has its challenges, everything has to come and go by hovercraft!

Looking Out by Jo Hummel will be on display at the Barnard Gallery from 17 January – 14 February 2023, and at the Investec Cape Town Art fair from 17 – 19 February 2023.

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Zizipho Poswa explores the art of hairstyling practised by Black women across the African continent and diaspora in a new series of ceramic and bronze sculptures now showing at Southern Guild.

Internationally acclaimed ceramic artist Zizipho Poswa‘s new exhibition titled uBuhle boKhokho (Beauty of Our Ancestors) is a continued exploration of her own cultural story as a Xhosa woman and an expansion on works in her earlier Magodi series.

Hair has a profound symbolic relationship to Blackness, and for Zizipho it was a major source of inspiration for uBuhle boKhokho, a series of photographs and sculptures, which took the artist almost a year to conceptualise and craft.

READ MORE: Southern Guild: Inkundla X Design Miami 2022

She created and wore 12 hairstyles over a period of five months, documenting each style photographically as part of her creative research. Having specialised in textile design at university, the artist was drawn to the process of constructing each hairstyle and the meditative aspect of crafting their patterns.

Through attentive documentation, hair becomes a personal script for language and a celebration of self as an act of defiance.

The sculptures which evolved from this process are monumental in scale (they measure up to two metres high), and while they are confrontational in their sheer size they retain an imposing sensuality. Their hand-coiled ceramic bases reflect Zizipho’s shift in focus from pattern and colour to shape and texture, culminating in elaborate adornments made from either bronze or clay.

There are many historic and contemporary hairstyles which she referenced for this series of 20 sculptures, including architectural constructions where the hair (both natural and artificial) is wrapped over armatures, the complex crested arrangement worn by Fulani women from West Africa and the fan-shaped headpiece of the Zande from Congo.

Some of the exhibition’s sculptures have been titled after specific women that have played a prominent role in the artist’s life, and their country of origin. She interweaves the personal and historic; situating herself in a vast and ever-expanding network of Black women who continue to self-define and affirm their own standards of beauty.

Zizipho will be travelling to Miami, Florida to attend Design Miami 2022, where she will be exhibiting two additional works from this series as part of the Southern Guild presentation, titled Inkundla. uBuhle boKhokho is showing at Southern Guild from 17 November 2022 to 3 February 2023. For more information, visit southernguild.co.za.

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A collaboration between local creatives has made it possible to own a dash of Pierneef magic.

After buying a pair of socks featuring the Mona Lisa at an international gallery, Bianca Grobbelaar, the owner of small photography and product development company Rest Established, got thinking. Could South African art become functional and accessible, and be used to educate? From this small seed, an exciting partnership has bloomed into something way beyond a postcard.

Bianca has been a lifelong fan of South African master Jacob Hendrik Pierneef, so his work was an obvious place to start. Pierneef, perhaps our leading landscape painter, was known for his distinct style and immediately recognisable acacia trees. Sixty-five years after the artist’s death, his work is still in great demand. Case in point: in 2021, Strauss & Co’s Pierneef-centred auction was a wild success, raising R24.5-million.

With this popularity in mind, Bianca approached the La Motte Museum in Franschhoek. The museum hosts the Pierneef heritage collection, which includes 45 of the artist’s creations.

Bianca and La Motte’s curator Elzette de Beer began developing a product range that would honour the original artworks but bring them alive in a completely new context. They then collaborated with FOUND. Collection, Love That Space and Zuyda van Dyk Bespoke Jewellery to create clothing, furniture and jewellery inspired by – and featuring – carefully chosen Pierneef paintings and linocuts.

While we are mad about the new Pierneef collection in general, the jacket created in conjunction with fashion label FOUND.Collection is a monochromatic showstopper. Intricately beaded, it is available in three variants, each featuring one of three of the artist’s works: Rooiberge, Bloekombome or Wilgerboom in die winter.

Our furniture favourites, conceived with Love That Space, include the tallboy cabinet, the graphic side tables and the short server. These incredibly detailed pieces are limited-edition, with an engraved number, and come packaged like an artwork.

We don’t all have the means to buy an original Pierneef oil – but this exciting project provides an opportunity to own a crumb of his creativity.

For more information, visit thevoicecollective.co.za

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A classic of liquor cabinets and Snoop Dogg songs, Hennessy is branching out with a new collab that takes in art and basketball.

French Cognac house Hennessy is much loved in the hip-hop world, but in recent years, it has also become known as a patron of urban art. The spirit’s Very Special Limited-edition Series is a case in point: for the partnership, a global mix of well-known urban artists designed bottles and murals. And since Joburg already boasts three of these large-scale artworks, it’s apt that the city is the scene of Hennessy’s latest creative stunt.

READ MORE: Cool Collaboration: Gucci X Cinthia Sfia Mulanga

“In the Paint” is a collaboration between Hennessy and America’s National Basketball Association (NBA) – the second instalment in a multi-part worldwide project. Through the revitalisation and beautification of basketball courts, Hennessy and the NBA aim to bring communities together, highlight the spirit of basketball and support local artists.

For the Joburg leg of the project, Zimbabwean-born graphic artist Sindiso Nyoni (also known as R!OT) lit up Zoo Lake’s public basketball court with an earthy explosion of colour that features a sun at its centre. Symbolising the warmth of the African continent, it is surrounded by ripple patterns that signify the Charente river in France’s Cognac region. (Cognac barrels were historically transported along it.) The artist also incorporated the “Bras Armé” logo that’s synonymous with Hennessy, subtly redesigning it to include a basketball. In his work, R!OT takes inspiration from the indigenous craft techniques of southern Africa; and of the court, he says, “It’s a beautiful ode to Africa.”

It’s also a great example of a public-private initiative that works – and driving past the court in the afternoons and seeing locals shooting hoops on R!OT’s masterpiece shows its success in action.

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This year’s National Arts Festival – an experiential tapestry of theatre, dance, music, jazz, visual art, comedy and more – will be taking place in Makhanda from 23 June to 3 July 2022. We caught up with Buhlebezwe Siwani – an artist and iSangoma whose work expresses truth like beauty; in the eye of the beholder, bendable, multidimensional.

Who is Buhlebezwe?

Buhlebezwe is an artist who is passionate about the country of her birth and the people that live in this country. She is iSangoma. This journey has led me to understanding myself and my position in society in a more nuanced way. I have been able to see things, been allowed access to things, that I could never have imagined, both as an artist and iSangoma. I am also a daughter, a sister, a lover, a friend and most importantly, a mother. I make work about all of this; I make work about my traumas and my joy all under the umbrella of my spiritual journey.

I used to be driven by what I thought people needed to hear, now I believe truth, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. Truth is bendable. There is not one simple truth. Truth is complicated and right now speaking my truth is what is important. I know it could sound like somewhat of a narcissistic exercise, but what it is, is seeing ones own reflection through the inflections of society.

Tell us about Iyeza.

Iyeza is the beginning of a project I have been working on for the past eight years, trying to make work with traditional and indigenous medicinal plants. It is a love letter to my healing journey and the person who makes me think of healing, my great grandmother.

Iyeza is about how traditional healers and medicine are viewed and the effects people, climate and other factors are having on traditional methods of healing.

What inspires your style and subject matter?

EVERYTHING. This is not an exaggeration. Everything inspires me – feelings, landscapes, experiences, words, people, food. I cannot think of anything that has not inspired me.

What draws you to your chosen medium?

I definitely would begin by saying I do not have a specific medium. I choose not to conform to the idea that one must have a fixed medium. We are ever changing. I heard somewhere that the only constant was change so I allow the work to choose itself and where it ends up. So, I am not drawn to a particular medium – I think the work chooses that on its own.

Take us through your artistic process. Do you begin with an idea or do you just begin? 

This is a tough question. I see what you mean by that but I think there is a symbiosis here; one cannot exist without the other. Can they both not happen at the same time? Sometimes I am bored in studio and just doodling or doing something and what I started with gives way to an idea. Other times I have a clear idea in my head and the rest just follows from then on.

Describe the space in which you are most creative.

I thrive in complete solitude or utter chaos, it has to be either extreme. This is mentally, physically and emotionally.

What is your proudest moment thus far, as an artist and/or as a person? What is your most wanted achievement for the future?

What is meant for me will find me, ancestor willing, so there is nothing that I most want per se. I think it is multiple ways of fulfilment and maybe creating generational wealth.

My proudest moment as an artist is being awarded the Standard Bank Young Artist Award 2021. As an artist and as a person I think my proudest moments are learning more about my craft and no longer being afraid.

Where can people find your work?

At the National Arts Festival from the 23^rd June in Makhanda. In Miami, Amsterdam, London and Naples. If online, at buhlebezwesiwani.com and with my gallerist at Galeria Madragoa.

What’s next for you?

I have a solo show coming up in September and I want to concentrate on that. I also have a few photographs that I just shot and a video – I have no idea where they are going but I don’t make work for it to go somewhere, I make work because I feel like it needs to be made.

For more information on the National Arts Festival, visit nationalartsfestival.co.za.

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“Transcending Instinct”, artist Nandipha Mntambo’s first exhibition of functional sculpture on show at Southern Guild earlier this year, extended the themes of her artworks into the realm of furniture

Hot on the heels of her latest exhibition, artist and sculptor Nandipha Mntambo has released her first collection of furniture (or “functional sculpture”, as she sometimes refers to it) with design gallery Southern Guild. It consists of four once-off furniture pieces – a throne-like zebra-skin chair; a tasselled stool; a tentacled chaise; and a cocoon-like, gold-lined love seat – and two oval paintings.

Nandipha is probably best known for her distinctive cowhide works, which she moulded on her own body to create sculptural forms, at once human and animalistic. These hybrid sculptures speak not just to the brute, instinctual animal nature that humans are never far from, but also represent something of the transformational potential of in-between states: something that is always becoming something else, and constantly being renewed.

READ MORE: Local Art Exhibitions: What to See in 2022

She is a versatile multimedia artist, and has explored these and related ideas in an oeuvre that takes in painting, traditional bronze sculpture, film, performance, photography and other more experimental media, such as her “hair paintings”, which involve stitching with cow hair on paper.

She says nothing significant changed in her approach for this project – in fact, she included the paintings because she felt they belonged more to the process of creating the functional works than to an art exhibition.

In conceptualising “Transcending Instinct”, Nandipha took the opportunity to “look at certain moments in my art career, and figure out how to translate an image or a photo or a sculpture into a functional sculpture”.

There are some direct references to existing artworks in her furniture designs, as well as other, more general influences. For example, the Zangbeto figure from Benin – the raffia-clad voodoo guardian of the night, which was central to “Agoodjie”, her exhibition at Everard Read – inspired the tasselled stool. The jacket made from cow’s ears that she wore as part of the matador’s outfit in her bullfight video Ukungenisa, part of an exhibition dating back to the late noughties, inspired the folded leather shapes of the love seat. The zebra-hide throne is an inverted interpretation of an installation that was part of “Agoodjie” (itself a variation of the cowhide sculptures).

When it came to designing furniture, she says she found herself able to break the “don’t touch” barrier of the gallery space, and to consider that people would be sitting on her designs and touching them. And while she had to consider practicalities such as comfort, she found herself thinking mostly about how these items of furniture position the body. They had the potential to make you “look at your own body in a different way because of the way you have to sit in or on each piece”.

READ MORE: Artists We Love: Nandipha Mntambo

In the example of the chaise, “You’re supposed to use the tentacles as a blanket,” she says. “It’s about being immersed in the space.” The egg shape of the love seat is about “protection and being cocooned”.

“The zebra chair is an interesting one for me, because it’s about inhabiting the space of sitting on a throne,” she says. But there’s something playful and quite subversive about it, too, “because the tail sits between your legs”.

In many ways, these pieces are to furniture design what haute couture is to fashion: a diversion into
the realm of art and ideas. The pieces are part of an exploration of how our environments and the objects in them affect the way we move, how we feel, even how we think of ourselves. Like those early cowhide castings, the pieces in this exhibition engage with provisional aspects of our identities, disrupt the roles we play and, perhaps most importantly, embody the potential for transformation: reminding us that who we are and what we feel is never fixed or final, but always in flux, always becoming something else.

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