‘Holding Shapes’

Goitsemodimo Kaelo | Monday July 20, 2026 06:00

 

That philosophy finds its fullest expression in ‘Holding Shapes’, an ongoing exhibition mounted at the Alliance Française. It features a new series of collage works that explores healing, transformation and the complexities of personal identity through abstraction. The exhibition opened to the public on July 9 and will run until the 30th.

The title Holding Shapes is a deliberate play on the phrase “holding space”, the act of being present for someone in a safe and non-judgemental way. For Maine, the exhibition reflects the tension between holding on and letting go.

“It speaks to themes of acceptance, letting go and holding on, and how one can exist between old ways and new ways. I’ve found myself navigating the tension of holding onto ideas or principles that may no longer serve me while actively trying to change and amend my life,” explained Maine in an interview with Arts&Culture.

Rather than focusing on becoming someone entirely new, the exhibition considers how people rebuild themselves from what remains after periods of rupture and uncertainty. It is about resilience, continuity and finding meaning through transformation.

The works themselves are constructed from acrylic-painted paper that is cut apart, fragmented and carefully reassembled into layered compositions. Maine draws inspiration from Eric Carle’s beloved children’s book The Very Hungry Caterpillar, a story synonymous with growth, change and renewal. The artist says his process is intuitive rather than predetermined.

“My creative process is pretty simple. Once I’ve figured out the how, it’s pretty much straightforward. I work in a very intuitive way,” he explains.

For Maine, form is only the beginning.

“I cut, I layer, I build shapes and then I see what memories they pull up. Form becomes a way to hold memory,” he says.

Those memories rarely appear in literal form. Instead, they emerge as fragments, emotions and impressions.

“Nothing in the work is literal. It’s more like the feeling of a place, a moment or a version of myself that I’m trying to understand. The collage process is perfect for that because you’re literally taking pieces that were cut by chance and reassembling them by choice. That’s how memory works for me too,” he adds.

Questions of identity also run throughout the exhibition.

“I think identity is always shifting. A lot of these pieces ask what parts of me I keep, what I let go of and what I rebuild.”

Although some works are deeply personal, Maine deliberately leaves room for viewers to form their own interpretations.

“There are pieces that came from moments where I felt most uncertain, and making them helped me see that uncertainty differently. I won’t say too much because I want people to have their own experience with them,” he adds.

Beyond personal reflection, Maine believes contemporary artists have an important role to play in expanding the country’s artistic landscape.

“We’re helping to widen the conversation about what Botswana art can look like. It’s not just one story. We get to ask questions, push materials and make space for new voices and new forms,” he says.

Ultimately, he hopes Holding Shapes offers audiences more than visual enjoyment. He wants the works to encourage reflection while challenging conventional ideas of mark-making and representation.

“I hope people can relate to the work. I hope they enjoy looking at it and that it brings them joy. But I also hope it gives them a chance to think about what mark-making could be outside representational art,” Maine explains further.

He intends to continue following intuition while pushing abstraction even further. Maine also hopes to deepen his exploration of non-representational mark-making, collaborate with more artists and create work that resonates with audiences both within Botswana and internationally.

“Each project informs the next. I’m curious to see what this exhibition teaches me and where it leads,” he says.