Tattooist Lubbe dabbles in fine art

Mpho Tlale | Thursday February 20, 2014 16:09

 

Apart from doing tattoos in her spare time away from the machines and the ink she paints, draws and moulds.  She reveals that “most of the time a tattoo artist does some fine art on the side and doesn’t just focus on one thing“. On arriving at her Village home-based studio, one is greeted by a painting of a giraffe on the wall that Lubbe confesses to have done some years back.

She is however, convinced that the painting needs some touching up to bring it to life.  Wall painting or graffiti as some people would call it is one of the young artist’s specialties. She, however, states that at the moment she is focusing on doing portraits and improving her craft. Lubbe is a multi-talented artist who does not limit herself to just one form of art.

She also sculpts on top of painting and drawing.  The budding artist shares that despite all her many talents, drawing takes preference above the rest as it is quite close to her heart. With her, inspiration is not just focused on one area but comes from all the different vibes and energies available around her.

She gives credit to her personal life experiences that she said are motivation enough. In her point of view, the arts have potential to make it in Botswana because the market is still to be tapped.  She believes that if there were more arts organisations maybe the situation would improve.

Another observation that the artist makes that challenges the arts is that instead of focusing on the craft, the art making age groups prefer to get office jobs rather than pursue their passion.   This is regardless of how good they are.  Lubbe pointed out that this could be because art does not sell in Botswana. She said that her love for art goes back to when she was a still a child.

Her love for giraffes goes back to her childhood days as well.  She said that the first painting on her bedroom wall was that of a giraffe.  In her studio there is a wooden sculpture of a giraffe and she also spots two giraffe heads on her chest, which is evidence enough to support her statement.

Through art, she believes that different messages can be communicated. 

She said: “There are so many human rights issues that can be addressed through art that include gay rights, xenophobia, HIV/AIDS stigma and so much more”. 

At the moment Lubbe said she is toying with the idea of a solo exhibition that came up after someone suggested it to her from seeing her passionate works.