Nathan's explanatory colour schemes take off
Nnasaretha Kgamanyane | Friday July 30, 2021 16:13
Nathan is a conceptual artist who mostly worked with themes related to abstract art and he believes that abstract art is non-figurative, non-representational.
“Colours speak through the artist rather than to the artwork of abstract. Art has no identical meaning. Even art that aims for verisimilitude of the highest degree can be said to be abstract,” he told Arts & Culture in an interview. Nathan also uses graphite and charcoal in his artworks.
Total abstract art makes reference to his personal experiences. The talented artist, who does portraits and sells paintings for a living, also revealed that his inspiration comes from both his life experiences, colours and forms found in nature.
“My abstract paintings come from my heart, expressing emotions as a virtual language, using pure colour and expressive marks to connect and communicate.
I have been told by my fans that my work emits special light and magic that is both spiritual and moving,” he highlighted.
The artist, who has exhibited his artworks at Thapong Visual Arts Centre gallery in Gaborone, also indicated that he enjoys creating commissioned paintings for his collectors as well.
Looking back, Nathan revealed that he began painting at junior secondary school in 2011 until senior secondary in 2015. “In secondary school is where I learnt only two media being pencil and pen shading.
Surprisingly I found myself using new media like charcoal and paint because I believe that an artist must explore any media that they come across. Painting became my best friend because it was easy to use and its behaviour was easy to handle,” he recalled. Nathan acknowledged that money was his main challenge when he started painting because he needed some materials for his work.
“It was difficult to paint when there was no material. I found a job at VTM security and it boosted me to buy materials to follow my dream.
Even though it is too slow for customers to buy artworks, I am always learning new skills and I’m winning because I learn fast,”.