ARTIST STATEMENT

Simone Marie Farah (b. 1977) – South African artist of Lebanese descent.

Fragments of Self is an evolving body of work that reflects the multifaceted nature of identity and explores my perspective on divinity and mortality in the modern world.

Fascinated by the complex interplay between the psyche and spirituality, I investigate how these themes manifest through abstract expressionism. In a study of light and shadow—incorporating processes of destruction and rebuilding—I delve into the self and its sacred connection to something greater.

This body of work emerged during a residency at Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, where my creative journey took on new forms. It began with shadows: my own shadow dancing across the canvas as I painted late into the night, shadows cast by laundry hanging in my room, and the ever-present shadow that walked beside me through the streets of Paris. I was constantly surrounded by reflections, whether in the studio windows or on the shimmering surface of the Seine. The play of light became a central theme, shaping this series. The pieces explore divinity, mortality, and identity through a mix of Chinese ink and oil paints, monoprints, and gilding.

My practice is a ritual of devotion and contemplation as I seek a deeper understanding of the human condition. Through a process of layering and abstraction, each piece represents the relationship between the sacred and the self. I experiment with scale, capturing moments of fragmentation and unity, aiming to evoke a sense of fragility and authenticity.

The monoprints were born out of necessity, driven by the practical limitations of working with oil paints in a live-in studio abroad—such as turpentine fumes and long drying times. The unpredictability of this method aligned with the idea of fragmentation, allowing me to create works that felt immediate and raw.

I invite you to explore your own subconscious as you engage with my work, encouraging shifting interpretations and personal insights.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Simone Marie Farah (b. 1977) is a South African artist of Lebanese descent who works primarily with oil paint and gilding. She originally came from a corporate background in marketing and communications, holding an MBA from the UCT Graduate School of Business and an undergraduate degree in English and African religion. She has been practicing as a full-time artist since 2014.

Primarily self-taught, Simone studied the techniques of the Renaissance Masters and fresco painting at Lorenzo de’ Medici in Florence, Italy. She recently completed a three-month residency at Cité Internationale des Arts, invited by the South African National Association of Visual Arts.

Simone has exhibited with several South African galleries, and her work has been presented internationally in France, Italy, Switzerland, Spain, the USA, Lebanon, and the UAE.

She currently works from her studio at the renowned Victoria Yards development in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Inkunzi Isematholeni which figuratively translates to & quote the leaders of tomorrow comes from the youth of today" is a series based on human conditions, his inspiration comes from his life experiences, being a South African who grew up in Zimbabwe raised by a family of women only. In this Body of work, Mfuphi Acknowledges the impact these women had in his life, the struggles they underwent to provide for their loved ones, and the love they have for their families.

Through immense figures, portraits, and landscapes, the artist carefully questions the situation of Africans and how some Africans are prisoners of their own riches.

The artist uses found materials in his work such as Mdonkana blanket, gash and recycled fabric in place of canvas, clothing pegs, and a combination of Cow dung and acrylic paint. The rawness of these materials serves as a metaphor for Struggle - someone being born in a dark situation, feeling like a prisoner in their circumstances, and having to create light and optimism in their lives.

The application of cow dung in Mfuphi’s work as a medium portrays who he is and where he is coming from, His love or enjoyment for cow dung commenced when he was young, was he used to help his grandmother carry cow dung from isibaya (the kraal) for plastering walls and floor as it is known to be a scent that attracts abaphansi (ancestors) and also a herbal medicine from Different leaves and plants. With that being said, the application of cow dung in his work also represents his late Mother, Grandmothers from the village who are working hard, farmers as well as our ancestors.

The Pegs Used to pin clothes, to make sure that when the winds occur, they do not carry the clothes away. Despite how strong the winds are, they are meant to keep them intact. Even when it rains, they meant to do that until the clothes dry off. Which is their purpose in Muphi’s body of work, they are a metaphor for Hope. They are a symbol that no matter how rough the winds are in life. HOPE must never be lost because eventually, it will stop… Even in calm winds and instead, it rains..and your life (clothes) gets together(wetter), eventually all will cease to pass because every storm runs out of the rain at some point. At that point your clothes will be dry and just like a farmer it will be time to harvest.

“If you are not creating art to engage socially and stimulate the viewer to reflect, then what are you making it for?”

Naisula focuses in her art on the dimensions and complexities that speak to our female identity. Through the use of mixed media, she achieves depth and dimension with her work, playing on the concept that capturing it all through one singular-complete image is impossible.

Naisula comes from a mixed cultural identity herself. Born in Amsterdam, she moved to Tanzania, her mother’s home country at a young age. She grew up in Tanzania and Kenya, and it was there in East Africa that she developed the urge to address and translate the stories told and overheard - through the universal language of art.

In 2018 the renowned University of Arts London accepted Naisula. Surrounded by talented artists and mentors, she continued developing and expanding her work and using different techniques. Yet still with the same focus on ensuring that each detail attained contributes to the female voice being heard, aiming to create a deeper and richer appreciation of the female identity and all that comes with it. Having exhibited in the Netherlands and the Caribbean, Naisula recently moved back to the African continent, motivated to share her experiences and engage with African society where her passion for art was ignited.

Julie is a South African artist, based in Cape Town, specialising in large oil portraits of African woman and children.

She was born in Johannesburg, and completed her Fine Arts degree at Pietermaritzburg University in 1990. After taking an opportunity to work in the IT industry, she ended up staying there for many years. It was only when she moved to Cape Town in 2010, that she started painting again.

Africa is her inspiration. This can be seen in her subject matter, as well as her use of beautiful traditional African beads and Shwe Shwe fabric.

Julie’s portraits were influenced by her work with children in the townships in Johannesburg where she taught at a Saturday School. Her paintings capture the expression and emotion, seen mostly in the eyes of her subjects, often showing the strength of the woman she paints, and vulnerability of the children.

Her art is very tactile and needs to be seen and felt in real life to get the full effect. She uses colour, wide brushes, stencils, beads and fabric, together with her palette knife to add character to her paintings.

She has exhibited her work at a number of galleries in Cape Town. Her paintings hang in people’s homes in Alaska, Switzerland, Poland, India, Canada, the UK and in many beautiful homes in South Africa.

“The eye never forgets what the heart has seen” - African Proverb

Morpheus is the Greek god associated with sleep and dreams, traditionally portrayed with wings. This deity, customarily depicted as male was the son of Somnus and appeared in dreams in human form.

Ansiona, real name Jitka Putnova, is a visual artist based in Cape Town, South Africa, whose passion for painting dates back from her first interaction with a paint-brush. She natively hails from Bro, Czech Republic, and has lived around the world over the years, thanks to her aspirational love for travelling and global cultures.

As a fine art alumni, her artistic practice spans across multiple disciplines, including painting, drawing, and mixed media. Her hands-on and continuous-learning is embodied in her unique abstract, contemporary style.

Ansiona refers to timelessness, as derived from an antique watchmaker. In her art, Ansiona strives to blend elements of timeless storytelling through art, and art that mirrors real-life stories, through time.
As an advocate for femininity, Ansiona’s artwork is deeply rooted in celebrating the power and beauty of womanhood. Her subjects and compositions embody this ethos, capturing the essence of the feminine spirit in all its forms. Through her art, she aims to create a safe & inclusive space for women to be seen and tell their stories without prejudice. Through her art, Ansiona invites viewers to explore the complexities of identity and the interconnectedness of humanity.

ARTIST STATEMENT
PORTRAITS OF THE MIND

This body of work invokes, contemplation, empathy, and reflection, aiming to foster a deeper understanding of mental illnesses and those that are challenged by them. To capture this, a group of 8 unique women were interviewed and told their individual stories which are portrayed in the artwork. Today, more than ever, we co-exist with mental disorders as part of our reality, as much as a human brain remains an existential mystery. The collection peels through these layers to bring its realities closer to the viewer’s eyes than before. This should foster a more informed perspective of our mental states and their relative challenges.

The collection includes a total of 8 paintings of 40 x 40 cm. The medium is Acrylic and Ink on canvas.

I am a visual artist based in Windhoek, Namibia. My art develops itself primarily through painting and mixed-medium, but I have also been especially interested in combining different art forms, tensioning and translating sensations, images and ideas from multiple media. My art is in essence is about telling a feeling or story, through whichever medium(s) can act as a conduit for that feeling or story.

I started off my journey as an artist when I graduated from the College of the Arts (COTA), Windhoek in 2011 after coming from my rural village in northern Namibia. As a colorblind artist, it was difficult in the beginning to find my voice, and I explored many different styles and mediums before finding the signature style that I am known for today.

Through my art, I want to tell complex stories and feelings, and my signature style has been developed as a vehicle to embody this complexity. My style is a technique of mixed medium, using both acrylic paint and newspaper collages on large-scale canvases.

When I paint, I often use my hands to truly connect with the story and pour my soul and own emotions into the canvas. My painting is bold, confident and colourful, despite being a colorblind artist.

The use of newspaper collages in my work developed first as a necessity, but has become an important story telling vessel that adds depth to my work. Since I am limited in seeing color and contrast, the black and white nature of newspapers became a safe-space for me to explore and build the foundations of my art, while using paint to add layers, feeling, and color to this foundation.

However, the use of newspapers is also a medium that allows me to relay my message and complexity of the people and emotions I paint. The clippings and articles I use, although chosen at random, build the reality and context of the stories and emotions I am highlighting in my work.

In today’s world, we are constantly inundated by news, advertisements, and images that construct our reality and the context in which we feel and operate. Newspapers are the representation of this modern phenomenon and the priorities of our society, and how this can influence our identities and emotions.

Newspapers are a time capsule of our past, present, and future simultaneously – and we are affected by what is held in between these pages, no matter which one we choose to read, or don’t read. What happens in the past and present contributes to our experience, and will influence how we feel and the actions we take in the future.

The mixed medium combining paint and newspapers allows me as an artist to interpret this complex entanglement between the world around us and our own stories, feelings, and identities. In a world that is seemingly becoming more and more complicated and harder to navigate, my work captures the simplicity of pure emotions.

By tuning into and allowing ourselves to feel and experience these emotions, we are able to connect to others of all backgrounds on an intrinsically human level. There are important lessons to learn from laughing, tears, loneliness, or anger. What is the root of this emotion? Why am I feeling this emotion? How will this emotion make me react?

Anyone can connect with this essential human experience, which is another major objective of my work – shedding a light on the stories and emotions of people who are not typically seen in order to humanize and unite them to the mainstream.

The style of my work is heavily influenced by Namibian culture and the people from villages. Yet, this culture and We/these people are more often than not homogenized as generic ‘African’ by the West, and not appreciated as its own unique experience.

By showcasing these Namibian cultures and stories through my work in a way that everyone can connect with, I aim to foster understanding and empathy in a world that can be painfully divisive. Even if the people I showcase in my work are from a completely different world from those who see my paintings, the raw emotions that my art exudes are something that everyone has felt at some point in their lives and can relate to.

Through my work, I hope to continue showcasing the Namibian culture and people I am so proud of to an international audience, to shed light on these underrepresented stories and bring people from all over the world together with the vulnerability and power of ubiquitous, authentic human emotion.