Makgoba masters the art of realism
Thato Kala | Friday January 9, 2015 13:17
His concerned mother called in a herbalist to treat him.
Interestingly, the then five-year-old drew the man on the soil after he had left. That drawing on the soil made him embrace his talent and discover a passion that would change his life. Although that image was long erased from the soil, it has remained etched in the 28-year-old’s mind for years.
Today, he easily traces discovering his artistic abilities to that particular day.
“My mother told me a story, that a man once gave a herbal medicine that healed me of some illness I had when I was five-years-old. She says I drew the man on the ground and it looked pretty much like him. I guess I always had this ability from birth,” says the artist.
He, however, recalls how he tucked his gift away for some time after that drawing. But he was never doubtful of his ability to sketch anything.
“I really do not know when I started trying to capture what I saw and putt on paper or on any surface,” he adds.
Over the years, he has grown to love what he does and is able to do various art forms, but chooses to specialise in fine art.
“I’m a bit versatile when it comes to art, I’m pretty good in all the categories, but I specialise in fine art,” Makgoba says.
Of course, like any other artist, he creates pieces to make money, but apart from that, his desire is to tackle issues that affect humanity through art. “I do art to address issues that affect humanity, in an attempt to contribute towards improving our world,” he says.
A quick scan through his work shows he uses a realistic approach in either painting or drawing. He explains that using this approach helps him reach out to a larger audience.
Makgoba adds he chose the approach because almost everyone can relate with to it.
“For example, when I want talk about the pains of poverty or causes of crime, I make a composition that depicts that reality,” he notes.
Clearly, his strength as an artist is the ability to come up with ideas and arrange them nicely in a composition. His close allies attest to how he becomes fully focused on finishing a piece, once he starts it.
“I don’t particularly get tired or bored in the process. I guess that’s what leads people to give up and be lazy,” says the passionate artist.
Without a doubt, his passion for what he does is unparalleled and he picks it as the single most driving force in his arts career.
Understandably so, art is still a growing industry in the country and demands lots of patience. The challenges bedeviling artists in the country do not deter him.
The art teacher has big ambitions and says he is settling for nothing less than “living my dream”. The fulfillment of that dream would be owning and running an art gallery in the country. “I plan on having an art gallery upon my retirement, so that I can spend more time doing a particular thing I am really good at and love,” he shares. He is well aware of how much the coming generation of artists will benefit from a gallery.
The Maun-born artist comes from a closely-knit family of five; his mother, sister and two brothers. No one in his family does art besides him, although he says his sister was really good at some point in the past. He notes that she was not as passionate about it as he is and eventually dropped it. However, he stresses, his family relatives and friends have really been supportive.
In fact, they feel he should work more on it and do something big for himself and become an artist of note beyond Botswana’s borders. That alone fuels his desire to set up an art gallery.
Makgoba does not mind passing on the skill to interested “outsiders”.
While other artists will give long lists of people who inspire them, Makgoba says there is no one he looks up to.
“I do not look up to one person in particular,” he says, adding that all he does is learn from every other artist and try to combine their styles and challenge himself.
But lately, he has not been following what other artists are doing internationally or locally. He however has a lot of respect for Audrey Flack. Flack is regarded a pioneer of Photorealism and an internationally recognised painter and sculptor. He says he only knows Wilson Ngoni locally.
And he has always been a fan of Gustave Courbet.
The acclaimed French painter who led the Realist movement in 19th-century.
For him, art is generally communicating one’s ideas through a chosen way.
He regards anything from poetry, literature, drama to fine art that addresses something as art. Makgobo adds that art can also be done strictly for decoration, like non-objective painting.
He insists that he does not have a particular artwork he regards his best.
“I rate my work the same. They are all the same because they were all done at different times and inspired by different things. It would not be fair to judge my recent work to my oldest because I improve everyday,” he says.
He says the idea is to sensitise people on burning societal issues.
“That’s why I thrive to make works that have meaning and worthwhile massages,” he explains.
The dedicated artist says the longest he can take working on a painting is a week.
The Tlhalogang CJSS art teacher’s advice to upcoming artists is not to engage in art full time, but rather have a career and do art part time.
His reason is that while locals do appreciate art, they rarely buy the work for what it’s worth. He bemoans the lack of support.
“They want to buy a work of art at a cheaper price, which is not good enough to sustain anyone,” he says.
He has exhibited in many art exhibitions in Maun and won prizes.
The one he remembers well was the Tlhari e ntsho Art Competition in 2004.
He won second position.
Makgoba also recently won second prize in the Expression Art Contest which was organised by Rosy Sbrana in 2013. He is also passionate about music and does it during his free time. The young artist loves serobe and porridge, but says he eats “for the journey”, to stay healthy and be fit in order to attain his goals, adding that he is always on a quest to eat healthy and lose weight.