Painter Beljam yearns for world stage
Oleosi Kgosi | Friday May 29, 2020 17:56
He admitted that the pandemic has affected him negatively because most of the clients that commissioned his works have now withdrawn the orders.
Beljam told Arts & Culture that fine art plays a crucial role on his mental wellbeing, as it communicates his thoughts.
He said art is more than just taking a brush and applying paint on canvas.
Beljam’s subject matters are usually portrayed in realism, abstract, portrait and surrealism art.
The talented artist stated that his work is mostly aligned with women because of the beauty they possess and the fierceness they display in tough situations.
“My art is also influenced by the environment I live in, what comes to my mind, what I see in my dreams as well as life experiences in general,” he added. Beljam also revealed that exhibitions that he was looking forward to attend were either cancelled or postponed, art supplies shops were closed consequently rendering his income generation at standstill.
“I did not capitalise and create more pieces as I had initially wished to, however, I used the little resources I have to create a few art pieces,” he said. He added that his artistic journey began when he was six-years-old drawing on walls with coal pieces.
“From primary school I persisted in growing and maturing my gift by drawing a lot of cartoons,” he shared. He pointed out that as time passed, he focused more on human portraits and other things that would look great when converted into drawings.
Beljam said with the support he received from family and friends, his skill developed and he began to experiment with paint and that is when his love for the brush was born. He furthered his passion by undertaking painting and decoration short courses.
The endowed painter indicated that he has been a member of the Thapong Visual Arts Centre since 2016. “I have exhibited at Thapong Visual Arts Centre member’s exhibitions and at the Thapong Artist of The Year Awards (TAYA) exhibitions since I became a member,” he said. He stated that he took part in various art workshops including Tlhale Workshop organised by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), and Thapong Visual Arts Centre’s Entrepreneurship Skills Development Workshop.
Apart from being a painter, he said that his versatility extends to photography and that he is significantly captivated by shots of sunsets. He said he aspires to be one of the top artists internationally and exhibit his work on the global stage.