Kegomoditswe sees promise in art
Mpho Tlale | Friday March 14, 2014 15:21
Born 20 years ago, the young man who hails from Sefhophe, but was raised in Selebi-Phikwe, strives to be the best at what he does.
For him art is more than just drawing and painting. He said that art is rather a way of self-expression and his statement is clearly complemented by his pieces.
Although he does both drawings and paintings, Kegomoditswe says that he prefers to paint. He only has praises for the brush.
He says: “I love painting because in painting I manage to find the joy that life has denied me. It liberates me and my mind.”
His other highly respected assets apart from his hands and brains are his tools that he uses to get the work done.
His Faber Castell crayons for drawing and his acrylic paint and oil for panting, make business easy.
With all tools available the artist is able to get to work and make magic laced art pieces.
He says that his love for painting has also been inspired by one of Botswana’s finest artists, Wilson Ngoni.
The arts in Botswana is growing and if artists worked as hard as the likes of Ngoni, he says, they too would be able to go somewhere far and beyond with their art.
Kegomoditswe says: “The results of working hard is a dream come true. Even though I might not have achieved my ultimate dream. I am a hard worker and I know that will pay off in the end.”
His sentiments are that when it comes to art, hard work beats talents because art is more hands on and requires creativity thus talent alone cannot go a long way if one does not have those other aspects.
According to Kegomoditswe, his art journey started from a young age.
He reveals that initially he never took it seriously although he was always one of the best when growing up.
He said that he only alternated being the best with his twin brother who sometimes took his position.
He recalls incidents where he used to steal his brother’s work to present as his own at school. He said that at some point his classmates noticed his trick and challenged him to prove himself.
It was at this point that the youngster said he saw his potential and stopped doubting himself after he was able to produce a drawing that he believed to be better than his brother’s.
From then on the love and appreciation of his talent increased. He was further pushed in the right direction by his junior school teacher who expressed that after observing his talent supported him and encouraged him to push forward with his talent.
Kegomoditswe has not held a solo exhibition and that is one goal that he ultimately aspires to reach. The closest to an exhibition experience he has had was when he was a student at Selebi-Phikwe Senior Secondary School.
He took first position in a painting category in a regional exhibition held in Orapa.
He said when the competition moved to Gaborone at the national stage he managed to scoop second position.
Kegomoditswe stated that his art is inspired by different aspects that include his past, mood, surrounding, daily life experiences and anything else that he comes across that sticks to his mind.
He adds that he however focuses a lot more on issues that show Setswana culture.
He says: “I want to sell Botswana to the outside world and I can do that through my art.”
He says that at the moment he is working at his aunt’s guesthouse in the evenings, while he does his art during the day. His hope is to some point in time go back to school to supplement his studies so that one day he is able to pursue art and study it at a more advanced level.