Meet the brains behind the masterpieces
Lesang Maswabi | Friday July 17, 2015 13:29
The exhibition, which started on July 3 2015, brought together the work of young and old artists from diverse backgrounds and professions like students, teachers and white-collar workers.
Tsholofelo Dintwe (18), the creator of stimulating sculptures of the Elephant and Kubu is a lad from Lobatse who remembers developing interest in art from his early teenage-hood years at New Look primary school. He recalls being acknowledged and winning some of the early art competitions he entered like the Lions International Peace Poster in 2009.
Dintwe says he only studied Art when he graduated to Letsopa CJSS in Lobatse. During his school years, his Art teachers Ms Adu and Mr Montsho, who not only advised him to take his talent seriously, but also helped nurture his skills, closely guided him. Speaking fondly about his former teachers, Dintwe recalls the positive impact they had on his artistic development.
“They encouraged me to build my portfolio by helping me with art materials since my guardians could not afford them,” he explains.
Unfortunately, Dintwe could not advance his education and ended up at JC level. He had however achieved higher marks in Art, which was of course his favourite subject. After dropping out of school he approached different government offices to seek assistance to further develop his art talent.
“I went around asking for assistance from places such as the Botswana National Youth Centre (BNYC). I also approached government programmes like Nyeletso Lehuma at Lobatse Civic Centre but I was always told they were no funds to help me,” he remembers.
Dintwe’s luck was changed by a competition he had entered earlier in 2014.
“I entered a National Art Competition for Junior & Secondary schools where I got position one at the first stage in Kanye and could only be awarded a certificate in the final stage in Gaborone,” he says.
It was this competition that gave him the exposure he needed to advance his art and meet like-minded people. Dintwe says he has great admiration for legendary and internationally acclaimed painters Pablo Picasso, Vincent van Gogh and Michell Angelo.
“Although I know little about these revered artists, I would like to study their work further through books I intend to borrow from my former teachers,” he said. Asked what medium of art he most preferred and why, Dintwe is quick to select sculpturing.
“Since I started drawing and painting, I noticed that there were far too many artists doing the same, so I decided to extend my skills to sculpturing. This was especially after I had also realised that they were just so many foreigners commissioned by our country to execute important sculptures around our country,” he says.
Dintwe says his main subject is usually animals, which have always been a significant part of Botswana’s wealth because of their value.
Dintwe says his imaginary elephant and kubu pieces are entirely original and he had only on a few occasions referred to pictures when not sure about certain details.
When asked if he had worked on the pieces as a response to the Thapong invitation.
“I had initially submitted for the President’s Day Celebrations, but were unfortunately rejected on the basis that Paper and Wire-meshed works were unacceptable. But to my shock, I later learnt that some entries of the same technique had been accepted and even went on to win first prizes,” he says. Dintwe says funds permitting he would also like to venture into metal (welding) and (cement) plastering. At P10 000.00 price–tag for his Elephant piece which took him a month to complete and P5 000.00 for the Kubu piece which also took a month to render, he says both respective prices have been informed by the time and material used to execute them. “I would also like my works to generate enough funds for me to re-invest the money into the company,” he adds. Dintwe concludes by revealing his ultimate dream.
“I would like to impart my skill unto the younger ones, since they’re the only ones that could lend me an ear. I intend to achieve this by acquiring land to set up workshops,” he says.
Ivy Radipodi - Mosimanyana
Next I trace the career path undertaken by the sculptor of the African Corset piece, Ivy Radipodi-Ramosimanya, now an Art-teacher at Naledi Senior Secondary School.
Ramosimanyana holds a Diploma in Secondary Education and a BA Fine Arts degree, having graduated from the Michaelis School of Arts at the University of Cape Town in 2007.
The 38-year-old artist says she has always connected with Conceptual Art, which she regards as versatile though she has not necessarily confined herself to that particular medium.
Mosimanyana has been inspired by internationally renowned and artists such as Berni Searle - a South African artist who does photography, video and film, Yinka Shonibare (MBE RA) now based in the East End of London and New York based multi award winner Leigh Weng.
“My works are inspired by pertinent issues within the society line my immediate society and global phenomena. I use everyday household objects like beads, clothing, medical apparatus, environmental (natural) objects and animal remains,” she explains. As we zone into in her current exhibited African Corset artwork, she takes us through the concept behind her work. “I was inspired by the beauty of an African defined by a woman figure, her integrity and the fascinating womanhood in an African woman.
To my appreciation I have since received some memorable responses to the art piece with varied interpretations from audiences,” she says.
Radipodi -M osimanyana adds that the artworks portray the strength featured in an African woman, the aesthetic beauty, the inner being and the utmost depth of the intellectual aspect of an African woman despite the hardships she encounters in life. Remember a woman’s heart is as deep as an ocean.
The conceptualisation and execution of the African Corset dates back to 2012 and has been work in process until Radipodi-Mosimanyana submitted it at the on-going members exhibition.
“So far I have spent P1 000.00 on this piece that is going for P2 500.00. The price was informed by the concept, labour, craftsmanship, creativity and furthermore by the message portrayed,” she says.
Depending on the overall response from the exhibition, Radipodi-Mosimanyana says her next move and approach in her work would still very much be determined by pertinent global issues.
Matthew Biorn
My profiles of the stimulating works showcased at the exhibition finally leads me to the 42-year-old, multi-skilled United States of America (USA) born and Botswana based artist Matthew Biorn, who tells us that his childhood interest and talent in art led to advanced coursework throughout senior school and eventually a Bachelor’s degree (BA) in Fine Art in 1995. A professional artist, Biorn is a graduate of the University of South Dakota with a Master of Science in Educational Technology in the USA. He says after working unhappily in the fields of IT and Educational Technology for 15 years, he left his earlier career behind and began creating art on a permanent basis from 2012.
Biorn says he identifies with Art that he is emotionally drawn to. “It should also provide a lot of visual information to absorb and process. I like art that challenges me and gives me new ideas to contemplate,” he says. Biorn says he has always loved the impressionist masters of the late 1800’s (Monet, Cezzane, Van Gogh, etc) as well as the conceptual art of M.C. Escher, and the spiritual visionary art of Alex Grey. He also derives inspiration from being out in nature where he says, “creative ideas tend to get downloaded more easily.”
Biorn says he also enjoys painting the human form and facial expressions.
“Since there is so much emotion and depth can be conveyed versus depicting other subject types.
Overall, I’m drawn to produce works that bring about feelings, peace and positivity, or a heightened state of consciousness.
“Sticking to one type of medium often gets me bored so I use acrylic paint, watercolour, and chalk pastel as well, but I often return to oils for their flexibility, lustre, and durability,” he says.
Biorn’s most memorable experience in his career he says, it was when he was part of the five local artists in the ‘Big Five’ exhibition at the National Museum last October which was well received by the public. “I really love it when people have a positive reaction to my work and are touched by it on a deeper level. It is a big part of what keeps me going,” he says. Biorn noted that his exhibited “Extra Melody vs Big Fred” started in late 2014 and was working on finishing it when the call was made for the member’s exhibition. He says it is a composite of several reference photos along with elements added from his own imagination. This is how Biorn explains the concept behind his masterpiece.
“This painting arose from my observation that not much local art seems to be documenting Gaborone city life. There are interesting human stories and elements happening around town every day, but local art tends to focus more on wildlife or traditional village scenes, which I have also done in the past. Therefore this piece is a bit of a departure for me in that I usually like using bright colour schemes, yet the ‘Extra Melody’ piece is predominately grey and dreary.
“The bus station in Gaborone has always held a fascination for me with all the activity happening there. It represents an interesting element of duality to me in that there is so much ‘life’ going on there, yet people are primarily ‘lifeless’, as they busily get through their day. The painting is also about competition and the illusion of choice. I believe we are offered choices all the time which give us a false sense of freedom. We are supposedly given free will to choose between Mascom or Orange, Coke or Fanta, ride the “Extra Melody” or the “Big Fred” combi, (or as an American in my case, Democrat or Republican),” he explains. Biorn says the whole project took him about 160 hours.
“Time is always the biggest investment. While good quality materials are costly, their price pales in comparison to the time it takes to properly finish a painting,” he says. He adds that the pricing on his artworks is based on a particular formula which is - 60 percent time taken + 15 percent cost of materials + 25 percent overall effectiveness and impact of the final product. Biorn noted that based on the overall response that he gets from his audience he is also working on completing his current body of work, which he hopes to exhibit in October this year.
“The next big step is to finish and publish my website, which will not only serve as my online portfolio, but a place for information and collaboration between artists and art lovers too,” he says.
And what is his dream project?
“My long-term goal is to co-create an artists’ retreat where young and old artists alike can create art in a healing and supportive environment,” he adds.