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A Pound of Flesh, 2022

Umbhaco fabric, Atlantic sea salt, rope, painted breeze blocks

Variable

Possibly my favourite work that I’m responsible for. Biggest thanks to Lemmeze Davids and Thobile Ndenze at blank projects for the space to try this out too. 

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Settler’s Rest, 2022-2023. 

Variable dimensions

Umbhaco and sea salt  

More from my residency at Nirox Sculpture Park; got to play in the beautiful studio space by reinterpreting an ongoing work.  

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INXEBA ELINGAFUMANI MOYA LIYABOLA, 2023

400 X 65 X 40 CM

Soil, ochre, oxide, gum arabic, hooks

Something from a recent residency at Nirox Sculpture Park, South Africa. IsiXhosa proverb referenced in the title translates to ‘a wound that does not receive air will rot’.

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Pompa Funebris, 2023 

Soil, ash, ochre and oxides on canvas

165 X 250 CM

Image Credit – Paris Brummer

Art work featured in Reservioir’s ALT Section booth at this year’s Investec Cape Town Art Fair. 

...

A funeral procession, conducted for aristocrats or nobles, is an ancient Roman ritual. Deceased figures of political or religious significance would be paraded through the streets for the collective grief of the nation prior to the burial. The mapped routes of these processions were usually strategic, its memorial aims were commemorative entertainment with elements of performance to involve attending crowds.

Using ash, oxides and ochres on black soil collected in the Gaansbaai mountains, Pompa Funebris suggests a disfigured view of the present South African political landscape – muddied by a tragic colonial history, the houses of parliament burned, the glitter of its gold dimmed, the blue of its seas blackened. Through the title I wanted to play on the pomp funeral costume dictated by this procession tradition, while invoking elements of colour and the triangle design from the South African flag.

The vertical lines on the twin canvas panels also echo the custom dictates of rich dress; in the robing of the ecclesiastic fashion, often a long garment wrapped over the chest and tied at the waist. Here the triangular centre of this three-piece flag reminds me of a robe collar, one side crossing over the other; while making further reference to the current South African flag in the black triangle converging in parallel black, green, white and red colour bands. I am interested in the robe quality of this work, and further attracted to the tension between garment and flag, body and land.

06.02

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RESERVOIR will be participating in the 2023 Investec Cape Town Art Fair, showcasing work by:

Anna van der Ploeg

Bella Knemeyer

Dale Lawrence

Inga Somdyala

Find us in the ALT section, at booth ALT2

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Zangomva Eliweni, 2022

Ochre, Red Oxide, Karoo Soil and Rock on Canvas 

113.5 X 79.5 CM

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Ulithwale Ilizwe Ngomonde; Uwusikelele, 2022 

Red Oxide on Canvas

113.5 X 79.5 CM

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Ralashiwe, 2022

Red Oxide and Homesoil (Komani) on Canvas 

113.5 X 79.5 CM

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Hlalendle; Machophetyeni, 2022 

Karoo Clay on Canvas

113.5 X 79.5 CM

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Hlathi, 2022

Ochre on Canvas 

113.5 X 79.5 CM

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Ubabalo lukaThixo Lundanele, 2022 

Ochre, Red Oxide, Karoo Soil and Rock on Canvas 

113.5 X 79.5 CM

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Hlamba Ngobubende Amanzi Ekhona, 2022 

Homesoil (Komani) and Ochre on Canvas 

113.5 X 79.5 CM

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Butsolo Beentonga, 2022

Karoo clay on canvas 

113.5 X 79.5 CM

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Mphankomo, 2022

Karoo Clay and Ochre on Canvas 

113.5 X 79.5 CM

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Lungako Uthando lukaThixo, 2022 

Homesoil (Komani) on canvas 

113.5 X 79.5 CM

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Makhosonke, 2022

Homesoil (Komani), Ochre/Red Oxide and Compost on Canvas 

113.5 X 79.5 CM