ARTIST STATEMENT
My Left Hand Is My Son
By Nolan Stevens
The latest body of work by abstract artist Sibusiso Ngwazi, produced during his residency at the Asisebenze Art Atelier (AAA) in Johannesburg, is a compelling collection titled My Left Hand Is My Son. Created on recycled paper and canvas, the collection engages viewers with two unexpected elements: first, an unforeseen aesthetic, and second, a profound intellectual idea rarely explored in contemporary art.
Inspired by a father’s yearning for his child, this work stems from Ngwazi’s separation from his six-year-old son due to the long hours he dedicates to his craft. Reflecting on the moments they shared in the studio, Ngwazi recalls the joy and spontaneity of their interactions.
Much of the mark-making in this collection draws from what he describes as “childlike strokes”—bold, unguarded, and confident. These strokes aim to capture the creative purity embodied in his son’s drawings, achieving a spontaneity that is both unplanned and whimsically unexpected.
ARTIST STATEMENT
My new work combines my old style and new style, which I want to introduce, and is a mix of abstract art and realism. I do not limit myself to one medium, style, or concept.
The technique I’m using is still the same, nothing much has changed- it is the distortion, gesture lines, and the bit of texture, that helps me to move the viewers… and that’s my aim.
Each piece is an extension of my past, present, and my future. My work is meant to be read and analysed.
It is in nature that I find my true inspiration- as an expressionist- but the most important thing I wanted to do, was to put the viewers in a far world, tell my stories beautifully, and move them.
All my artworks evoke emotions and give an eye to the true beauty of art.
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
Patrick Patakai Rapai was born at Silveira Missionary Hospital in Masvingo, Zimbabwe in 1976. He went to school in Harare, the capital of the country, where he began his career as an artist.
His artistic journey traces back to his grandmother, a potter who recognised his potential at the age of 10. Under her guidance, he became her protégé, setting the stage for a future in art. Excelling as the top art student in his class solidified art as his true calling.
In 2002, Rapai initiated his artistic expedition, undergoing formal training at the B.A.T School of Visual Arts, National Art Gallery, Harare, Zimbabwe, where he attained a Fine Arts Diploma.
In 2005, he accomplished a Graphic Design Diploma, at Harare Polytech.
Commencing in 2007, Rapai has refined his skills and imparted his artistic vision through various artist workshops in Gaborone, Botswana; Johannesburg, South Africa; Harare, Zimbabwe; Chicago and Michigan, United States of America; and London, United Kingdom.
Confronting challenges from sanctions in Zimbabwe in 2008, Rapai astutely relocated to Johannesburg, South Africa, strategically placing himself where international visitors converge. This move proved pivotal, significantly broadening his clientele, and offering new opportunities for his artistic vision to flourish in a global context.
A true monarch of his craft, his paintbrush waltzes across the canvas. Rapai’s unique artistic style, characterised by dimensional textures and a plastering technique, sets him apart. His creative philosophy centers on art as a puzzle connecting the creator with the one who needs it, visualising people, cityscapes, landscapes, and objects from diverse angles.
Jean-Michel Basquiat serves as a profound inspiration for Rapai, as he finds his motivation in the inherent value and pricing of Basquiat’s masterpieces. Rapai epitomises a strong business acumen, demonstrating a keen interest in the dynamic intersection of art and commerce. Adapting to changing times and technology, he remains steadfast in his commitment to evolve, ensuring his artistic endeavours continue to captivate a modern audience.
Apart from his artistic pursuits, Rapai aims to make a lasting impact by motivating upcoming artists and aiding the less fortunate through philanthropic endeavours. Teaching art in schools and transforming redundant spaces into meaningful public art installations, he showcases a commitment to imparting knowledge and curating impactful spaces. A significant achievement involves Rapai contributing to painting the iconic walls of The Leonardo, Africa’s tallest building in Sandton.
Negotiating the difficulties brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa, especially its effects on the artistic community, signaled a significant transformation for Rapai. Given his dependence on corporate collaborations, he encountered the imperative to reconstruct his clientele entirely.
He established The Rapai Art Gallery in 2018, originally located on Frere Street and later at Judith’s Paarl and Maboneng in Johannesburg. More recently in Cape Town.
Possessing a profound vision for the gallery, Rapai intends to reproduce his art across diverse mediums, aiming for widespread accessibility and diverse artistic expressions. Additionally, he plans to launch an e-commerce platform for his creations.
Evolving as an artist, Rapai’s subjects and craft grow increasingly captivating, reflecting a journey of resilience, creativity, and a dedication to meaningful contributions to the art world. Each stroke signifies his steadfast commitment to patience and persistence, creating layers that emanate richness, refinement, and a distinct realisation of his artistic visions. His designs are not fortuitous; they are exquisite creations imbued with the wisdom of a seasoned artist.
He embodies the remarkable harmony that arises when the realms of applied art and graphic design come together, with his influence extending well beyond South Africa.
In the timeless pursuit of transcending borders and mediums, Patrick Rapai stands as a testament to the enduring power of art to connect, inspire, and elevate the human spirit across generations and continents.
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
Keith Zenda is a self-taught, multi-award-winning artist who first discovered his talent at the young age of ten. After finishing secondary school, he became a full-time artist in 2003. His work is inspired by his rural life background, and projects the essence of African Ubuntu spirit, the richness of African culture, and a sense of belonging. As a way to give back to his community, Keith is establishing an art center where he mentors and nurtures Underprivileged upcoming artists in both rural and urban communities.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Ethereal Keith’s work in this project aims to create a counterpoint to a world driven by the need for certainty, for surety. A world where we find comfort in the tangible and material Where the more commonly held a belief is, the truer and safer it becomes. While these pursuits give us comfort, they rob us of our curiosity. They come at the cost of forgetting the immensity of who we are. In these paintings, the wraith-like figures and mirage landscapes tease us into the corners of our consciousness. To a peripheral world, distant but familiar. A world we remain connected to by a thread of long-dormant
memories. Like half-remembered pieces of a dream. These works are an invitation to reconnect with the fringes of ourselves.
To expand into the many layers of our own rich mysteries.
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
I am a Cape Town-based artist. My art is inspired by the rich diversity of shapes, colour, tones, and interactions that make up my living experience. The things that excite me a desire to capture and communicate. I believe that we share a common primal language, and that visual experience ignites in us memories of that language. My art is an invitation to share a moment, to participate in a silent conversation between expression and experience. Through abstract expression, my art explores the beauty of the ordinary. It aims to evoke in the viewer a familiarity. Not through recognition of objects but
through a common visceral experience. Every viewer and every view will yield a different response. It is this diversity of visual experiences that drives the conversation that unites us.
ARTIST STATEMENT
I like to refer to myself as a traditional artist, but since 2020 my art supplies have become digital. My graphic pop art pieces are hand drawn digitally using an Apple pencil working on a 7th gen 10.2-inch ipad in Procreate. I create high resolution, highly detailed statement pieces that I present as limited-edition prints. These prints are released over various sizes and on various surfaces, but from the outset I work with the intention to be able to print high-resolution oversized artworks. I like how reverse printing on Perspex simulates the 10.2-inch ipad surface I draw on.
By juxtaposing unrelated themes, I aim to provoke meaningful conversation around consumerism, art, fashion, religion, and politics by borrowing from a variety of contradictory popular culture imagery that relates to a specific theme. I use iconography ironically, creating new context by effortlessly absorbing existing ideas and restringing them into new and autonomous artworks.
My representational work embodies a figurative style with pop art influences. Reflecting on the timeless elements of fashion, I create elegant work with an edge that incorporates both, contemporary and classic ideas of style, glamour, femininity and pop culture. Remaining loyal to my figurative subject, female portraiture by using both classic icons and imaginative, chic and playful faces. I often frame these faces with unrelated eyewear to add personality to the subject.
Surrounding the portrait is usually a strong reference to my textile design background. Here I arrange and densely fill the canvas with a collection of objects and patterns that I like and relate to the context of the series. This also breaks up solid colours and adds visual context and interest to the background and balances colour, structure, and the composition of the work, intentionally drawing the viewer in, for them to lose themselves as they explore the camp explosion of graphic art, in the most endearing way.
Although each piece exists independently, I prefer setting out working in a cohesive series of three. This not only keeps me focused on three pieces at the same time, but it is also a way for a prospective buyer to instantly visualize the entire series together, or as two, or a single-piece shining on its own.
ARTIST STATEMENT
This collection is about the splendour and ascent of Africa and its people, as well as the sorrow and despair that are deeply rooted in the African experience. I encourage the viewer to feel embedded in the profound culture and heritage of Africa. The human race originated from the womb of Africa - it is important to know where we come from as you are the gift granted from The Most High to this blessed land.
I encourage you not only to see the beauty of Africa in my artwork but also the beauty within yourself. We are one people walking this journey of life together. When viewing these pieces, look within yourself, as the portraiture you see in front of you is a reflection of you. You should feel the love with every brushstroke. Africans represent a deeper sense of hurt and sorrow due to colonialism and yet when the sun hits an African face, it glows with warmth and divinity. I play with this juxtaposition of sadness and divinity in my artworks on display today. Human sadness is significant to me because I feel like I can relate due to personal experience. I express this sadness through the subject’s eyes as they are the window to the soul.
When observing these artworks, I want you to feel that you are accompanying me on a journey of self-exploration. I hope that this collection helps you discover that The Most High is within. I am of the belief that life is not about the destination, but the journey. I hope that the pain depicted within the African’s eye in my artworks inspires resilience in you to keep walking the journey of life with grace. Embracing the fact that the destination is everchanging.
Peace and Love, all glory to The Most High, and enjoy this collection as much as I enjoyed creating it.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Painting is a wonderful way of going deeper into the beauty of the present moment.
While painting, time seems to disappear as forms take shape on the canvas. There is a deep sense of peace in the creative process. The finished painting then becomes a record, a history, and physical evidence of the creative process in action. The subject matter, light, form, and colour are key aspects of my work.
I hope it is evident to anyone looking at my artwork that I have a profound respect for nature and form,
particularly as it is revealed in various qualities of light and shade. Painting light and colour in its various expressions have been a passion of mine from the beginning.
My approach is inspired by curiosity, dream state, and consciousness.
I primarily work in my studio overlooking the sea, an incredible source of inspiration.
I embrace and find most styles and techniques interesting, and I explore many of them, incorporating them when I can into my work. Therefore, my personal painting method is a combination of many techniques and of course my own signature!
My work is regularly exhibited and sold in Abu Dhabi, USA and the UK, and have held regular exhibitions abroad.
ARTIST
Goldendean is a genderqueer trans media artist provoking dialogue about the gaze, queer bodies, love and Social justice. A.K.A. Dean Hutton, they have worked across photojournalism, print, digital, video and social media, performance and community action since the late 1990s. They affirm the right of all bodies to exist, to be celebrated and protected. through their strategy of simple, often improvised actions by a “Fat Queer White Trans body” sharing moments of soft courage.
PRODUCTION DESIGNER
Shruthi Nair was born in India. Shruthi graduated from UCT Michealis with her BAFA hons in 2006 and is a practicing designer and candidate architectural draughtswoman. She works mainly within the visual arts space, production and project management, furniture and architectural design sectors.
CONCEPT
INHALEXHALE is a lightbox installation that calls us to both individual and communal acts of self-care in response to the crisis of breathlessness and social anxiety experienced by so many during this era of late capitalism, where ecological catastrophe, corruption and police brutality quite literally threatens to rob us of our breath.
THE VISITOR EXPERIENCE
The installation, made from reflective ‘gold’ materials, set to a radial rising from the ground like the rays of the sun, provides a point of focus and reflection for the viewer to remain present, and establish inner calm, acting as a visual representation of the process of mindful breathing, the rhythm and flow from inhale(to)exhale.
