We catch up with multifaceted South African artist and photographer Amy-Leigh Braaf aka Hakopike (featured previously, here) about her transition from photography and digital work into the realm of portraiture and painting.

How has your life evolved since we last caught up with you?

My life has gone through so many changes, but the main one is that I have explored mediums that are a lot more tactile, being murals and acrylic paintings on canvas. I have explored halting generational trauma from passing down generations through physical pieces such as murals, and canvas pieces that push my body and mind to a flow state where I can combat the thoughts that I see as common in my family. The feeling is that if I can physically work on depicting stories of coloured and/or mixed raced people like myself then I can rewrite my own story that pays tribute to those who came before but doesn’t repeat history. 

Could you elaborate on the new style you are exploring?

The style of the newest series is influenced by my mixed heritage of “ambiguity” and finding a place in one’s life through spirituality. The series is about my ancestors who have ties to Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan and Scotland – these are oral stories that I have been told and am holding onto to explore the validity of it all. Growing up looking like I did often caused a lot of confusion for me, and whenever I questioned my identity I would be given small bits of information about where my family came from. Oral stories can feel unreliable sometimes as it is often connected to a deep and painful history that can pass from generation to generation. This series is aimed at stopping generational trauma from passing further. 

What are some of the pros and cons of embarking on a journey into painting after being so advanced in your other mediums?

I often focus on newer mediums as exciting channels to explore rather than cons, as I am passionate about learning and educating. My digital works did well over the last year and my photography and ceramics all were leaning towards something bigger, but I was unsure of what. Now that I have worked on a large mural for this series as well as portraits of ancestors of mine that I have dreamt about or channelled through a flow state – I can fully embark on a newer medium feeling safe and connected to my family. And that is comforting. 

How does working in the physical as opposed to digital bring a different element to your creations?

The physical side of painting has allowed me to move my body more, which has helped me with my mental health. It is also a very deliberate medium that creates a space for me to push through emotions that I have suppressed. The main task is combining oral stories with physical pieces to make them tangible and real for other people. I also like that murals and canvas pieces have been touched by my paintbrushes, my fingerprints are attached to them, and therefore my DNA. I exist. I am real. And here is a piece to prove it. 

What inspires your subject matter? 

I have been accepted into two art residencies, one in Indonesia and the other in Japan, and I am going to focus on my father’s side of the family who has told me that we have Indonesian and Japanese heritage. What inspires me is the essence of human life, magic, power and beauty through birth. I often felt as if my soul was born through my own creation – after I entered into the world physically. I didn’t always feel this way, but I can remember the day I felt intuition pass through my body like a rite of passage. The same intuition my grandmother has. As a woman – rites of passage are complex but also written by ourselves, and I want to explore rites of passage through the exploration of ancestry. 

How did you decide on portraiture?

I have always loved faces, even when I was a full-time photographer. There is something about the human face that holds data that proves they exist. No faces are alike except for twins, but even then – there are differences to be found. Portraiture is more than depicting random faces, it is showing the essence of a person. When I paint somebody – I am painting more than their eyes and mouth. I am painting their first love’s pain, their dreams and fears in the world, I am painting the words their fathers and mothers said to them when they were young.  

Are these portraits specifically local people or do you draw references from elsewhere across the globe?

I draw from my mind or from family members, so a lot of my portraits focus on are based on stories I want to depict. For example, I wanted to depict heartbreak, so I drew a figure that came into my mind, perhaps a face of a memory I have attached to. Without preparing who it is going to be, the face comes forth, like a stream of consciousness, and I am presented with it. The faces often choose me and I don’t choose them. 

Elaborate on the exploration of heritage for you personally in your latest collection.

My grandmother is 95 years old, and I started this series by painting her in her youth. As I was painting her eyes I wondered what I could do to show the pain she has felt and the love she has birthed throughout her life. And I found that storytelling through symbols was the way to do that. Through pots and couches and scarves. Anything that reminds me of her. I am exploring being a coloured woman through my work by telling symbolic stories. 

Your imagery looks to explore elements of the feminine. What does that mean to you?

I have battled with my femininity for years but in the past two years, I have found comfort in it now. I realised that my femininity is through expressions of physical acts and not the way I look and feel. I like to depict feminine energies through my pieces, but femininity personally is through specific mediums like pottery (especially on the wheel), painting large-scale paintings of powerful women, creating a 3-hour gourmet meal for those I love and singing. 

What does a regular day look like in 2023?

I am a part of the 5 am club again, and what my days consist of is waking up, drinking warm lemon water (like my mother and grandmother do), I have a cup of coffee, brush my teeth, bath and start by 6am. 

I then focus on canvas for the day or a mural depending on the day. Because I am travelling this year I am not sure if the 5 am club title will still stand, but I will be in an art residency for a month in February and I plan on starting my mornings like this! Coffee, cleanse, create. 

Do you have a particular colour palette that you’re using for this collection or are you just winging it?

I have been deeply drawn to the colour palette of bright reds, vermillion, sap green, turquoise and pink! Sometimes yellow but painting with yellow on a wall has been so difficult lately. These colours are to invoke life and tie me back to the earth. I have been alone in my life a lot – not lonely but alone. And these colours have always made me feel alive and full of love. 

Where would you like to see your work going for the rest of the year?

I would like to have two solo exhibitions this year and I would like to hold workshops in Indonesia and Japan if possible as well. I want to do more murals, and have my canvas pieces up. My work will have its own journey and I have often relied on hard work mixed with a little bit of fate to help align me on the path that I need to take. 

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Cape Town-based artist Alexia Smit’s paintings evoke a moody sense of nostalgia, reminiscent of dreamlike moments. We talk to her about how television, cinema, light and feeling influence her works.

How did you get involved in art?

I’ve been fascinated with visual images for as long as I can remember. As a child I drew pictures on just about any surface I could find and I still compulsively scribble drawings on the margins of all my books.  My interest in images led me to a career studying cinema as a film theorist and lecturer.  But about four years ago I felt a powerful need to return to the material practice of drawing and painting that had delighted me in my youth. When I started painting in oils for the first time, it was a point of no return. I think the exhilaration of finding oil painting felt for me a bit like dizzy euphoria of falling in love. When I think of my journey to painting this quote by Annie Dillard always comes to mind.

“I had been my whole life a bell, and never knew it until at that moment I was lifted and struck.” ― Pilgrim at Tinker Creek.

To continue Dillard’s metaphor, now that I know I am “a bell” I plan to ring for the rest of my life.

What does a regular day look like for you?

An ideal day in the studio involves a 9am start and at least four hours at the easel. I love to listen to audiobooks while and I work.  Artmaking also involves other forms of work  like finding and preparing subject matter along with the administrative work that goes with artmaking and selling. I balance my art practice with my scholarly and teaching career. I incorporate my film studies scholarship into my art process so these areas of my life aren’t entirely separate but they do sometimes pull me in very different directions.

How did you come across your medium and do you explore other options?

I think the answer above has already covered my obsession with oil paint. In highschool we were told oils were messy, expensive and difficult so I only tried it in adulthood. I’ve found oil to be a much more forgiving medium than acrylic or watercolour. But beyond this oil has a sensuousness and tactility that is just delicious to me. Despite being such a traditional medium it has endless applications. I do dabble with other media from time to time. I have recently been playing with video essay making and risograph printing. I’m tempted to get into ceramics and I also love working with textiles.  However, oil painting is my ‘home’ and there is so much possibility for experimentation within oil painting that I am far away from every exhausting my interest in the medium.  

Where do you go for inspiration?

I think painting is a way living ( the best way of living!) and I am constantly looking at the world around me  as material for painting. I love the way in which painting enlivens the senses so that everything I look at is a joyous dance of colour, light and form. 

I draw a great deal of inspiration from film and television images. I also often use ideas from film theory as starting points for my work. My paintings are concerned with the storytelling capacity of images. I am particularly influenced by feminist film theory because so much of this work examines the role of pleasure in the visual field. I also play with cinematic visual effects like dissolves and double exposures. I love using old photographs, slides, and visual artefacts like postcards. I like to see what happens when images are translated from photographic forms into painterly expression.

What feeling do you try to evoke through your work?

For me a painting is working well when it evokes a sense of mystery. I like to harness suspense and curiosity through the scenes I construct. Painting is an attempt at translation between the material world and the imaginative world of the artist. I think when we are moved by a painting it is because we can sense that striving  or urge of the artist to reach out beyond ourselves.

What plans do you have for the next year?

this year I am working on some much bigger canvases (at least for me). I’ve got large body of work in process which I hope to exhibit soon.

Are there any up-and-coming artists who we should look out for?

I would check out Diana Vives. She’s an amazing sculptor.

How would you describe your style?

Moody figurative studies rendered in a loose painterly style

Tell us about your lockdown art experience?

While I know lockdown was really tough on many people, I think for an artist there is going to be a plus side to being locked away in your home. Just as we were going into lockdown a friend of mine gave me her beautiful large easel which meant I could work at home. I painted my heart out. It was a strange magical time for me.  I think the isolation was good for productivity but I am also glad for this post-lockdown time in which I have been able to rejoin the world of people, connect with other artists, get feedback and attend exhibitions. The social and human side of artmaking is crucial.

Looking for more local art? Sign up to our weekly newsletter, here, or take a look at this list of local exhibitions to see in 2022.

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Featuring over 260 photographs, the exhibition zooms in on two decades of work in which Zanele documents themselves and lives of their fellow LGBTQI community. This is a created world where identity, and the quest to give a voice to the voiceless, take centre stage.

One of the most prolific contemporary South African artists, Zanele is an LGBTQI activist who is part of a generation whose survival allows many new artists to tell their stories today. “Photography has allowed me to express myself in a way that I would not have been able to had I used another medium,” says Zanele. “I knew that something important had to happen with my work, but I didn’t know it would end up in places like the Tate or museums around the world.”

Each body of work that Zanele has created has its place in the past and present, possibly the future. Why? Because it is open and unending, a space where they constantly find themselves going back to continue telling their  story and that of others. 

This process is one of importance because it has allowed Zanele to uplift the LGBTQI community. “My work is for everyone, it could be a teacher, it could be a mother whose child is queer and they want a reference point to show them that they are not alone, and, it could be for LGBTI people themselves, to understand their worthiness,” they say.

While they position their work as being for everyone, some of Zanele’s photographs are deeply confrontational – perhaps uncomfortable for some – as they are situated at the intersection of identity with complex history, and carry a poignant statement about the legacy of the past in the present. 

In short, Zanele Muholi’s work, while strikingly beautiful and beguiling, cannot simply be admired without making one consider the myriad of ways society, identity, culture and aesthetics intersect. “I want to believe that my work touches the soul,” says the artist.

Zanele Muholi runs at the Tate Modern from 5 November 2020 to 7 March 2021. For more information visit the Tate Modern website.

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Durban-based visual artist Wonder Buhle chats to VISI about what inspires his work, the importance of texture and what’s next.

When did you start creating art?

I was always a creative kid during my childhood, from playing with charcoal left over from firewood, until I finished high school when I decided to follow the calling purposefully.

What is your process when creating a piece?

I just need good music – mostly west African music. I probably start to paint from 6:30pm until the sun rises – it’s the perfect time for me to sink in and flow with the work as I paint. The whole process runs smoothly if my space is cleared.

You play around with texture quite a lot in your work. How integral is texture for you?

In general, I think texture just balances human life, it’s the side that people often hide. When I paint I always keep this in mind. Mostly it comes from the “Flowers like Stars” that I use as a symbol of guidance for these figures that I create. When I paint these I always feel accompanied by the supreme powers of the greatest that lived before me – I feel destined.

Emuva

What inspires your subject matter? Are your portraits of real or imagined people?

My subject matter is inspired by many spheres of life, especially the richness of black people – the knowledge we preserve and the notions of beauty and consistency in spite of traumatic history and the negative projections we face in our daily lives. My portraits are mostly of imaginative faces. I have seen a million people for the past 30 years of my life, but there are characters that have had a strong presence, the mind never forgets them. I treat them as the chosen ones and these are the same characters that live in my paintings. I always feel they carry an important message.

What influences your colour choice?

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1. Megaliths in the Bath House Ruins by teamLab

Art collective teamLab’s new exhibition on Japan’s Kyushu island features a mesmerising new artwork situated within Mifuneyama Rakuen Park’s bath house ruins. A program renders artworks onto a series of “megaliths” in real time, which once seen, will never be visible again.

Images via teamlab.art

2. The World’s Biggest Bike Garage

The Dutch city of Utrecht has opened the world’s biggest bike garage, designed by Ector Hoogstad Architecten in collaboration with Sant & Co firm and Royal Haskoning DHV. The multi-level underground space can accommodate 13 500 bicycles.

Image credit: Petra Appelhof via ectorhoogstad.com

3. Recycled Plant Pots

POTR pots, developed by engineers Andrew Flynn and Martin Keane, are self-watering flatpack origami-inspired plant pots made from 100% recyclable materials. Better yet, these designs claim to be 100 times more carbon efficient than regular pots.

Images courtesy of POTR

4. Netting Portraits by Benjamin Shine

Multidisciplinary artist and designer Benjamin Shine creates unbelievable portraits using tulle fabric. For Benjamin, his work focuses on the concept of “energy, impermanence and the relationship between the spiritual and the superficial”.

Images via thisiscolossal.com

5. Jason Anderson’s Pixelated Landscapes

Artist Jason Anderson, who used to restore stained glass, uses pale pastel oil paint to create abstract cityscapes, each with its own focal point. “I am fascinated by colour and work with a strong palette to create deep impasto effects with the paint,” says Jason on his website.

Images via jasonandersonartist.co.uk

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The walls of Nelson Makamo’s studio in Joburg are lined with large-scale drawings and mixed-media works depicting the faces of children. Some of them look up as if in reverie, but many of them fix you with their gaze in a moment of stillness that packs an emotional punch.

The prolific portraitist has a faculty for mark-making and line that he exploits to soulful effect in scenes of ordinary people doing everyday things. He’s been quoted as saying that “every piece is my soul”. “I always say as an artist your soul has been cut into millions of pieces, and you get to share each piece with others.”

Image credit: Andile Buka

Last year was a big one for Nelson: two solos at CIRCA in Joburg and Cape Town; a showcase at 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair in London; the global Rise Art Prize for drawing; a rug collaboration with Laduma Ngxokolo; and, oh, did we mention that Oprah and Ava DuVernay popped in at his studio?

Don’t expect the pace in Nelson’s studio to slow down anytime soon: He has an exciting project coming up soon and is preparing for a show at Loo & Lou Gallery in Paris from 29 May to 27 July 2019.

See more of his work at nelsonmakamo.com.

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Using a wide variety of different patterns and fabrics, New York-based artist Bisa Butler creates colourful quilted portraits.

Layering vibrant textiles, each piece is brightly coloured, creating technicolour works of art featuring subjects from throughout history.

“I often start my pieces with a black and white photo and allow myself to tell the story,” explains Bisa on Claire Oliver, her gallery’s website. “My stories are told in the fabrics that I choose, the textures I combine, and the colours that create a whole new composition.”

Bisa’s portraits aim to tell potentially forgotten stories. “When you see vintage lace and aged satin it tells you the story of delicacy and refinement of times gone by,” she says. “When you see African printed cotton and mud cloth it tells the story of my ancestral homeland and the cradle of civilisation. When you see multi-coloured organza and netting layered you are being told a story of something or someone colourful and multifaceted.”

See more of her work on Instagram.

(h/t) thisiscolossal.com

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South African artist Robyn Pretorius chats to VISI about her artistic start as the youngest cartoonist for the Sunday Times (at the age of 13), what inspires her and the meaning behind her realistic paintings.

Tell us about your work for the Sunday Times and how this influenced your future?

It was a comic strip competition the newspaper hosted for its young adult section, called S’camto. I won the competition with the help of many voters. I didn’t know how profound the moment was at the time but I did recognise how powerful and vital my talent was towards my future as a creative child. It was as if I was given a teaser to a possible future I never thought would happen. Drawing cartoons was something that came naturally to me, so being a paid cartoonist at such a young age just seemed bizarre. I kept giving my earnings to my mother who was having difficulty at that time. It was only later in my life I truly understood how this experience influenced the way I value my gift today. I see it as a doorway to many possibilities without having to sacrifice who I am.

How do you decide who will feature in your portraits?

I don’t have a particular process for choosing my muses, but I do believe everyone has a story and I base my narrative around celebrating random stories. People inspire me, especially those coming from my community, my social circle and random encounters with strangers who have revealed the less obvious gems of their personality. Making art based on identity and representation challenges me to remain open-minded and to see beyond what I’m looking at. This way of approaching my art allows me to have an array of stories and portraits to paint.

What is the process behind creating one of your pieces?

I start with just getting to know more about the person I’m intrigued in. This way, I collect as much data as I can, which I use as the base for the background of the piece. The background, along with its colour palette and mixed media components, always reveals a visual interpretation of the unique identities, interests and environmental influences of the muse. The background may be minimalistic or extremely busy, depending on the artistic process, but their story is always interpreted visually. I then complete the piece with a realistically painted portrait of the person by using clear photos either given to me, or from my personal photography.

What do you use to create your pieces?

I use mixed media materials and acrylic paints to best convey my narrative. It’s such a flexible and diverse subject, thus I need to be flexible in my approach to the creative process for a successful visual interpretation.

What do you try to evoke through your work?

Through my portraiture, my main aim is to make people feel more connected and to challenge others to be more tolerant of each other. I am aware of the intolerance that seems to be increasing around us, good and bad, but it is crucial that we don’t lose sight of the magic and diversity our humanity holds. I’m hoping that my art will help aid a more inclusive representation of true South African diversity, especially those from marginalised communities. I aim to celebrate our true identities and our stories to counter the negatives of a healing country.

What milestones are you proud of in your artistic journey?

I am proud of all the milestones that I’ve achieved in the four years of being a full-time artist. Not too long ago, I was sitting in an unfulfilling job with low confidence in my abilities. Everything I’ve achieved thus far I would not have believed possible then. However, there are four milestones that were responsible for shifting my perspective and career in art.

In 2014 I had my first international group exhibition in New York. I was still working, but this opportunity jump-started my desire to enter the art industry full-hearted. In 2017, I was one of seven artists commissioned by the South African Mint in celebration of the Kruger Rand’s 50^th to create a portrait of Muhammad Ali, which is now part of the Kruger Rand’s private collection. In the same year, I submitted an artwork titled Blessed Judah to the Sanlam Portrait Awards. It was my first time entering one of our country’s most prestigious national art awards and my work was placed in the top 100 portraits.

The latest milestone has to be my recent art residency in Belgium. My portfolio was chosen from many international submissions to attend the Glo’art residency in November last year. I feel like I’ve evolved so much from that experience and can’t wait to produce more collections of work based on what I’ve learned.

Any artists you look up to or are inspiring you at the moment?

My list of inspirational artists is way too long to mention and also ever-changing. I did meet an amazing artist during my recent stay at the art residency in Belgium. All of the artists attending had something special to offer but there was one Serbian artist, Petar Mošić, with technical skills that absolutely blew my mind. His realistic, oil-painted portraits, which are both sinister and beautiful, definitely encouraged me to challenge my technical abilities more.

I am also greatly inspired by many local artists, a few I know personally. I might not have room to mention everyone, but it is their artistic journeys and support that have inspired me greatly over the years.

See more of Robyn’s art on Instagram and on her website.

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Self-taught Los Angeles-based artist Joseph Lee creates anonymous portraits using thick brushstrokes in bold colours.

His abstract pieces are placed against a solid matte background, making the colours and textures used even more prominent. This impasto style gives the impression of wet paint, that the viewer is able to scrape it straight off the artwork.

Despite each portrait not having a full face – some reveal just an eye or a nose – Joseph aims to convey a sense of emotion through each face that he paints.

See more of his work on his website or on Instagram.

(h/t) thisiscolossal.com

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Joburg-based artist Nelson Makamo creates striking portraits using charcoal, acrylic, watercolour, monotype, silk screen and oil.

He studied for three years at the Artist Proof Studio in Joburg, where he focused on print making, and has exhibited across the globe, including in South Africa, France, the US, Italy, the United Kingdom, Germany, The Netherlands and Scotland.

Preferring not to plan his pieces and rather use his current state in any given moment to guide his work, Nelson predominantly finds inspiration in children from rural areas in South Africa, with the strong belief that their faces encapsulate the peace and harmony people try to achieve in daily life. He believes that it is easy as adults to lose the wide-eyed wonder and joy experienced by a child.

See more of his work on Instagram or visit nelsonmakamo.com for more information.

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