Local workwear brand Sweet-Orr has partnered with 10 South African industry leaders to showcase their talent and celebrate their inspiring stories.

For just over 150 years, local workwear brand Sweet-Orr has empowered generations of people in countless industries to do the work they love. It’s this commitment that has drawn Sweet-Orr to trailblazers, creative thinkers, and hard workers in every field; and why they’ve chosen to celebrate them and the remarkable work they do. Sweet-Orr has partnered with 10 South African industry leaders to showcase their talent and celebrate their inspiring stories with their new #LoveWhatYouDo campaign. It’s a ‘hat tip’ to the hardworking men and women from different industries, who all share one common trait: they have a deep-rooted love and passion for what they do. The 10 South African industry leaders are:

• Lyndi Sales – Contemporary artist
• Otto Du Plessis – Sculptor
• David Southwood – Photographer
• Hiram Koopman – Saxophonist
• Gino Lange – Custom car fabricator
• Bongani Mnisi – Conservationist
• Leighton Rathbone – Mixologist
• Thandie Dowery – Jewellery designer
• Jo Neser – Olive farmer
• Buddy Chellan – Professional BMXer

From this impressive pack, we interviewed five creatives whose dynamic and thoughtful work will, no doubt, excite you too:

Lyndi Sales

Contemporary artist Lyndi Sales has been creating a series of installations and artworks for the past 20 years. Her intricately made constructions shed light on the fragile nature of our existence and temporality.

Your work is so intricate – what attracts you to this kind of practice?

I like working with intricate small units that can be multiplied to form a much larger whole. The accumulation of multiples reminds me of the building blocks of the universe. The fragility of this intricate network that binds everything is elusive. I’ve always wanted to see beyond the veil of this three dimensional realm that we live in. I often look to the microcosm and the macrocosm as the realms unseen, only viewed through the aid of a microscope or a telescope. The intricacy of patterns in nature, in animals and in science is what intrigues me.  

What are the main themes that run through your work?

Temporality and transience are themes I find myself returning to. The existential questions around life and death.  I have always been interested in somehow portraying the metaphysical realms. I look for parallels between science and nature and the spiritual. And the connectivity that binds us all through the infinitely small and large. 

Are there any artists who inspire you?

I’m inspired by the autobiographical references in the work of Marina Abramovic and by her vulnerability, courage and passion. The sheer wonder of how Tara Donovan creates her installations and her patience and perseverance with an overlooked everyday object to speak its own language through multiplying it has inspired my practice.  

I often reflect upon the overwhelming emotion I felt when I saw The Night Café by Vincent Van Gogh. I’m in awe of his passion for his craft. And then Wassily Kandinsky for inspiring me to want to visualise the unseen through shape and colours. 

Thandie Dowery

Nomi Handmade, owned and founded by Thandie Dowery, takes pride in being a multicultural brand with Shweshwe roots in Sotho culture. Currently, the South African jewellery maker is targeting the global market and has stocked shops in the US, UK, and Europe. Nomi Handmade specialises in modern, minimalist pieces, and the brand’s go-to material is Shweshwe fabric, which features prominently in every design.

How did you get into jewellery design? 

I’ve always had a love for shweshwe, but having more of a minimalist taste, I couldn’t imagine wearing a garment made from the bold, vibrant prints. So my work around was to make accessories that could accent my outfits rather than be a main feature. Friends liked the pieces I would wear and literally stole them off my body – which, in turn, happened to them too, making me realise that perhaps I was onto something. And so my jewellery business was born.

Can you tell us more about the meaning behind the name Nomi Handmade? 

Nomi Handmade is named after mom, Nomgcobo, whose nickname was Nomi. Nomgcobo means happiness in Xhosa. Coincidentally, my mom also converted to Judaism and the name woman converts take on is also Nomi. The Hebrew meaning is beautiful and delightful. Both meanings I think are fitting for the bright, colourful pieces in the range, which aims to make the wearer feel beautiful and inspire happiness and delight.

If you could collaborate with another local designer, who would you choose and why? 

iloni. I absolutely love the metal embellishments they use on their rubber jewellery pieces. It would be great to collaborate on a necklace and bracelet range, incorporating shweshwe with their brass pipe and rod fastenings.

Otto Du Plessis

Founder of Bronze Age Foundry in Cape Town, Otto Du Plessis is a sculptor who is passionate about creating figurative bronze work.

What attracted you to using bronze as a medium?

Bronze is an incredible medium, because of its strength and durability one is capable of making sculptures and furniture that would not last if it was in other mediums (wood /ceramic cement etc). The incredible patinas or colours that can be obtained and translate your sculpting language  beautifully.

Are there any themes that run through your work?

Most of my work is quite organic – it is about the connection between animals and humans and the life we share. I see myself as a sculptor and a designer. My work has an element of realism and a contemporary finish and includes furniture, vases and sculptures. Southern Guild represents me and with them my work has travelled the world at all the major art and design fairs. The world of art and design is starting to merge which means that designers are becoming as important as artists and their work is becoming collectable. Southern Guild has locally and Internationally become one of the most important galleries and I am proud to be represented by them.

Which artists and sculptors inspire you?

So many, if I have to name two it will be Egon Tanya and William Kentridge – they make it look so easy and their work is effortless. I have worked and cast bronzes for various different artists including Kentridge, Brett Murray, David Brown, Kevin Brand, Dylan Lewis, Wim Botha, and even the late Eduardo Villa. What I really appreciate about most artists is their approach to the work they do. Sculptures  are so multifaceted in regards to the process followed to get to the final product. Bruce Arnott had a major influence on a couple of famous sculptors. His work was all about the simplified form and essence of the human, he was a remarkable teacher and craftsman and has taught me a lot about finishing bronzes.

David Southwood

For over 20 years David Southwood has been capturing photos that have asked questions with craft, humour, and empathy. David’s work has been shown in The South African National Gallery, The Finnish Museum of Photography, The Christoph Merian Stiftung, the collection of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, The Goethe Institut, and The Spier Art Collection. His work has been featured in numerous accredited publications, too.

What drew you to photography and what keeps you interested in the medium?

As Gary Winogrand said, ‘Photography shows you what the world looks like.’ This is what drew me initially. This fascination with light and materials grew into and combined with the possibilities for incessant travel and meeting a diverse range of people: from Pollsmoor inmates to Philosophers via the man in the street. The man in the street is the most important person for me, and the sooner I return to straight-up portraiture, the better. Tooling around unknown cities on my own with the camera is the Golden hour, no matter the time of day. Don’t let anyone tell you that the Golden hour is dusk; that’s fiction from the top drawer. 

What in your eyes makes the perfect shot?

A camera is like an amplifier for the curious which enables the user to magnify and distill surface and interior into, ideally, an elegant synthesis. If this sleek synthesis manages to garner more than 180 likes, then it can be adjudged ‘perfect.’

What are your career highlights?

• Meeting William Eggleston in Spain and managing to somehow make my question hit home through all the hard tack which he was sinking.
• Working for two weeks in Pollsmoor. Profound education, not fun. 
• Sneaking through the back door of MOMA with a specialised lanyard and card to meet a curator, thus avoiding a very long queue.

Hiram Koopman

Since an early age Hiram Koopman has been passionate about creating music. He has collaborated with numerous artists from South Africa and around the world, including Ken Raynolds, Neville D, Emo Adams, Vicky Sampson, Elvis Blue, Anton Goosen to name a few.

How did you discover your love for music?

I come from a musical family, and specifically my dad has been playing saxophone for 50 years. Growing up, playing in the church band every Sunday with my dad, grandpa, brothers and uncles cultivated a love for music from a very young age. Moving on from playing in church to bigger stages, theatres and festivals, the love for music even grew bigger. Also, travelling overseas to Europe, UK, Canada, America, New Zealand and Australia, you realise that music in actual fact is a ‘universal language’ and that no matter where you play in the world, it will always speak to someone, somewhere, somehow.

Is there a genre of music that you are particularly drawn to?

I grew up listening to great Jazz artists such as George Benson, Al Jarreau, Stevie Wonder just to mention a few. My parents used to listen to older jazz artists like The Commodores, El Fritzgerald and Barry White. My dad had a huge collection to B-bob jazz such as Charlie Parker, John Coltrane and Miles Daves. I have a broad spectrum of music that I really love, from Rock to Pop, Hip Hop and Jazz. I love playing Jazz though. It feels like a ‘love at first sight’, feeling when playing it.

Are there any musicians who inspire you?

Yes, I believe that our planet has been blessed with extraordinary musicians that inspire me in making a change in people’s life through music. One such person is Kirk Whalum, a professional saxophonist and humanitarian. His career as a musician started as a young boy, and his big breakthrough started when he joined Whitney Houston’s band, and later started his own band. Not only did he start his own career but also invested in multiple community projects where he helps the less fortunate in supplying basic needs such as houses, schools and food.

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With over 200 sculptures on show, the fourth edition of SculptX, which opens this spring in Joburg, will offer visitors a glimpse into the different artistic approaches being applied to sculptural works.

Nature and culture are set to collide and coalesce at Africa’s largest sculpture fair: SculptX. This vital fair was established by The Melrose Gallery in 2017 in association with Melrose Arch, and this year will be on view across multiple venues from September 3 until October 24.

SculptX provides a space for artists at different levels in their careers. Established artists – Anton Smit, Botha, Willie Bester, Pitika Ntuli, Andre Stead and Strijdom van der Merwe amongst numerous others – will show alongside a younger set of artists pushing the boundaries of the medium such as Sophie Van Wyk, Bucktowar, Mandy Johnston and Kenneth Shandu as well as other emerging artists still exploring the possibilities of sculpture.

A number of artists participating in this year’s, SculptX, South Africa’s largest annual sculpture fair, are pushing the boundaries of sculpture in interesting ways. Notably, the recent popularity and interest in ceramic art has infiltrated this year’s edition, with clay works by Nindya Bucktowar and Chuma Maweni standing out.

For Bucktowar working with clay helps the artist reconnect to the earth.

“Clay is an elemental material with an ancestral link to our evolution as a species,” says the architect-turned artist of her clay installations, which consists of hanging clay forms and larger organic sculptural ones that echo both the natural and built environments or where the two might have once met. 

Maweni is interested in delving into historical vernaculars. His pit-fired clay works are created using the same techniques used by Nguni tribes before him, though his end-product appears like contemporary abstract forms.  Sandile Radebe also evokes African culture in his abstract sculptures which are intended to echo the iziqhaza – the ear plugs used to adorn the sliced earlobes in the isiZulu tradition of Ukuklekla.  

“These knowledge systems (which include the medicinal properties of herbs) are the fascination of my recent works whereby I extrapolate coded messages, scripts and beautification of the Zulu material culture towards an artistic end,” says Radebe.  

He also references “regional colour schemes of Zulu beadwork to signify variations in Zulu material culture as well to conceptually connote variants in meaning and function,” he says. 

Female artists are represented strongly in the fair with works by well-known artists such as Noria Mabasa, Wilma Cruise, Elizabeth Balcomb, and Ledelle Moe among many others, dispelling the myth that sculpture is primarily the preserve of male artists. 

“We have put much effort into sourcing female and young artists from the previously disadvantaged communities to give them the benefit of this valuable platform as they are often overlooked and under-represented in this genre,” observes Craig Mark, the director of the Melrose gallery.  

Participating artists at this year’s SculptX:

SculptX runs from 3 September to 24 October 2021 will be shown at the Melrose Gallery and a number of other venues at Melrose Arch, which include the Daytona showroom, as well as Sandton City’s Diamond Walk.

Looking for more on local art? Take a look at all the local virtual exhibitions, here.

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In The Absence of Light, Stanislaw Trzebinski‘s first solo show at Southern Guild, explores humanity’s delicate connection to the Earth’s oceans through a series of sculptural works.

A continuation of Stanislaw’s 2018 series Extra Terrestrial, his latest show invites you to become a diver in an artificial sea as you meander through towering kelp forests frozen in time, rendered in bronze and glittering with the illusion of bioluminescence. Explore coral-, stalactite- and fungi-reminiscent forms that appear to have been harvested from the earth itself. This body of work features standing chandeliers, a series of tables and suspended “sea hearts”, sculptural works that urge viewers to recognise the plight of the planet’s oceans and the natural world at large.

“Our indifference towards nature is the biggest threat to humans,” says Stanislaw. “We know so little about our oceans, yet we are destroying them at such a fast rate. We don’t even know what we’re losing.” It’s these mystical unknowns, these undiscovered denizens of the deep, that Stanislaw’s latest series urges viewers to consider. 

Mensam

As an ode to the place where Stanislaw first discovered his love for fishing, snorkelling and kite-surfing, a percentage of sales from this exhibition will be donated to Local Ocean Conservation – a Kenyan not-for-profit organisation that prioritises the protection of the marine environment through ocean conservation, education and outreach programmes.

In the Absence of Light is currently on show and runs until 17 October 2019 at the Silo District in the V&A Waterfront. For more information, visit southernguild.co.za.

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It’s been a year since Justine Mahoney’s solo show, Tainted, was exhibited in Johannesburg, so VISI caught up with the thought-provoking sculptor, known for powerfully capturing a darker element behind a playful façade, to find out how she developed her iconic style, who she’s following on Instagram, and what she’s working on now.

Justine Mahoney shot for Southern Guild by Mark Cameron.

How did you develop your style?

I wouldn’t say that I have a style. My process deals with forming digital collages from my library of imagery. I use intuition to bring images together – they speak to me to tell me what they need. From here, I go directly to clay to build using the collages as source material. Then my pieces are cast in bronze.

How much has the South African context influenced your work?  

My work is fundamentally based on the experience of growing up in this country.

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be? 

I couldn’t imagine living anywhere other than SA.

What are you working on at the moment?

I’m working on a schoolgirl with super powers.

What, or who, inspires you? 

At the moment, teenagers.

Describe where you create your pieces? 

My studio is the storage space for ideas that are coming into being. I keep all my collections here, from obscure Japanese superheroes to comic books and plastic toys.

What time of day do you prefer to work? 

Mornings and night time.

If you could collaborate with a South African artist who would it be?

Yolandi Visser would be cool, but more truthfully, Wim Botha.

What are you reading at the moment? 

I’m listening to the audiobook of Necronomicon: The Best Weird Tales of H.P. Lovecraft.

If you weren’t an artist, what would you be? 

A witch or an astronaut.

Do you have a career highlight?

Working with Southern Guild.

Where was the last place you travelled and what did you buy? 

I travelled to New York City. I didn’t need to buy much; I just experienced it. I did find a brilliant sculpture tool store recommended by [artist] Conrad Botes.

What is your favourite room in your home?

I love my entire home.

What is the last piece of design or art you purchased? 

The comic Hellboy by Mike Mignola.

Are you a summer or winter person? 

Both.

Are you on Instagram? If yes, who should we all be following?

Yes (@justine.mahoney). Follow @playforever.

What’s next for you?

I’m busy working on my next show with Southern Guild.

Check out Justine’s recently relaunched site, designed by Jana + Koos, and stay up to date with Southern Guild on Instagram for news of Justine’s exhibition in early 2019.

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Ben Young is New Zealand-born, Australia-based self-taught sculptor who works with glass and concrete to create works that appear to have been sliced out of the ocean.

An avid surfer and boat builder, Ben’s appreciation for the sea is evident in his work. His sculptures are all hand-drawn, hand-cut and created out of clear sheet float glass that is layered with lamination.

Ben, who has been creating glass sculptures for over 10 years, develops the models, creates custom jigs and, with the use of a glazier hand tool, cuts the layers. He is big on planning and focuses intently on this part of the process. “I do a lot of thinking before I even start to draw or cut,” shares Ben. “I work with 2D shapes and have to figure out how to translate that into a 3D finished piece. Sometimes my starting point changes dramatically, as I have to find a way to layer the glass to create certain shapes.”

See more of his work on Behance.

(h/t) thisiscolossal.com

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Joan Gardy-Artigas is a renowned Catalan sculptor and artist who has worked with the likes of Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró, Marc Chagall and Alberto Giacometti.

In this beautifully-shot clip by director Marc Puig for NOWNESS, you are able to follow the daily routines of Joan as he works in and around his picturesque farmhouse studio, El Racó.

“El Racó is a house, my home,” says Joan in the video. “It’s a very nice farmhouse with its own personality. Whenever I find an empty room I convert it into a workshop so that I can move around. One day I draw in one room, the next day in another, and I love that.”

Watch the video above and learn more about the life – and work – of this fascinating creator.

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Professional sculptor and artist Calvin Seibert brings a modern edge to the age-old joy of building sandcastles with his contemporary castles inspired by brutalist and modernist architecture.

This American summer Calvin spent some time on the sunny shores of Rockaway Beach in Queens constructing his magically modern sandcastles. His sand sculptures rarely begin with a plan, but rather with the vague notion of wanting to create something different, which is then constantly developed by the ever-changing mash-up of ideas in his mind. Described as “organic machines that grow and expand” Calvin shares that a successful sculpture is never finished or contained and if time allowed he wouldn’t stop adding to it.

Take a look at some of his amazing designs from the past year in the gallery above.

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Tropical Space has created a striking pottery workshop and studio space for Vietnamese artist and sculptor Le Duc Ha.

The 7 x 7 metre cube is built with solid clay bricks, and is inspired by traditional pottery techniques. The grid-like pattern encourages airflow for the drying of pottery, as well as the introduction of nature into the space.

Inside, bamboo scaffolding rises three levels high, acting as a display area for completed works.

This middle of the structure houses the turntable where each piece is made. This is placed under an opening whereby people can watch Le Duc Ha working from a different perspective.

(h/t) designboom.com

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More at home in nature than anywhere else, internationally acclaimed sculptor Dylan Lewis has created a collaborative space that combines his work, his family and his beloved landscape.

What does home mean to you? Perhaps it’s four walls and family, or wherever you choose to rest your head. However you interpret it, the home is more than just a place; it’s where the heart is.

World-renowned artist and sculptor Dylan Lewis’ heart is lost somewhere in the wild. “I have the grounding of family and that is one kind of home. Then there is obviously my home in the aesthetic sense, which is the manifestation of an inner place reflected outwardly in concrete proportions and materials. And, because I am a loner, I find balance by retreating to my spiritual home, which is the wilderness.”

The place that Dylan, his wife Karen, and the youngest three of his five children have settled is Mulberry Farm on the rustic slopes of the Stellenbosch mountains in the Western Cape. The family resides on the property and, from here, he also manages the business of being one of the world’s foremost figures in contemporary sculpture.

Born in Johannesburg in 1964, Dylan’s parents relocated the family to Hout Bay in the Western Cape when he was still a baby. Hailing from a bloodline of notable artists, it seems inevitable that he would be gifted. His late father Robin Lewis was a sculptor famous for his bird forms, and his mother Valerie and maternal grandmother Renée Hughes are both accomplished painters.

“I particularly remember my grandmother’s studio at her home in Hermanus, where I used to spend summer holidays. The house was suffused with scents of whisky and turpentine and the sea, and its walls were covered with vibrant Fauvist paintings of human figures.”

Dylan describes other early memories as being filled with the presence of the mountains and the ocean. He is a devoted surfer, but when it was time to choose a place to settle, his heart was drawn more to the mountain.

When they moved onto Mulberry Farm in 1993, aside from the cottage they lived in, the only other building on the land was an old apple-packing shed, which he converted into a bronze foundry. Today it has been transformed yet again into a bright, airy gallery dedicated to showcasing his work. It’s a creative space filled with completed works, more in progress, sketches dating back to his childhood, and interesting artefacts he has discovered on the land – from prehistoric axe heads to animal skulls, all carefully displayed in elegant cabinets designed and built by Dylan himself.

The family resides in a property that is situated just above a sculpture garden, which covers seven hectares of “untamed” scrublands. In truth, the land has been carefully moulded in order to best display the sculptures while retaining harmony with the natural surrounds.

This landscaping process has taken seven years, and was first dreamt up by Dylan when earth-moving equipment was hired to flatten some of the land around their house.

The couple wanted to create a patch of level ground so the kids could play without fear of disappearing down the steep mountain slope. “I became completely fascinated by this levelling process. For a year, I was mesmerised by this excavator, and used it to move and shape the land with a view to eventually turning it into a sculpture garden,” says Dylan.

It was a collaborative effort between Dylan and Karen, plant expert and technical gardener Fiona Powrie and garden designer Franchesca Watson.

“Dylan called me in when he’d already spent six months or so sculpting the space with an excavator. He had made the lake and the streams, done most of the moulding, and had managed to move some of the trees around,” says Franchesca. “The first couple of months, we talked about what he wanted to achieve, and looked at images of places and plants. He spends a lot of time in nature and takes inspiration from this, so he is more articulate than many clients. He knew what he wanted and my role was to distil his ideas and arrange them into something that could become a reality,” she recalls.

Because the soils and aspects of the slopes had to be taken into consideration, the mostly indigenous plants are segregated into zones – there is an aganthosma [buchu] hill and an area of restios and sedges, for example. “We have also planted all the forms of Erica verticillata, extinct in the wild,” says Fiona.

Positioned most carefully on and around these hills and slopes are some of Dylan’s most powerful and potentially disturbing works – cowering human forms, bent over in agony, while others are coiled and bursting with a pent-up energy that’s palpable in every gouge and indentation on their undulating surfaces.

These formidable beasts can’t help but arouse emotion. Seen in situ, with the mountain towering behind and the great vistas of the Cape winelands stretching out below, it’s an intensely moving, other-worldly experience – as if you’ve slipped suddenly into a parallel Narnia-esque universe, where great horned beasts hover on the waters and winged, celestial seraphim watch from above.

Dylan originally became known for his large African cat sculptures, choosing them as a metaphor to convey his deep love of the rugged landscapes they inhabit. Since 2009, he has focused on the human form and an integration between human, animal and earth. Despite comment by a small faction that there is some dark, subversive meaning behind this, the truth is that they actually have nothing to do with the religious concept of Satan, but rather as Dylan describes it, they “explore modern man’s physical and psychological relationship to the environment”.

Today, his interpretation of this relationship through his work has gained him huge international recognition. Despite his rise to fame, however, Dylan remains unequivocally himself – a surfer guy, passionate about the ocean and the wilderness that surrounds the small patch of mountain he calls home.

This article was originally featured in IMAGINE.

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