Artist passionate about photo pointillism

Oleosi Kgosi | Friday March 23, 2018 16:51

 

Kutlo Mabua was born and raised in Mahalapye and is a visual artist who specialises in pointillism. Pointillism or stapling is a process of making dots using different pressures that result in tones to create a picture using fibre pens and micro fine liners.

For this pointillist, his motivation is derived from individuals who are a reflection of him or his reflection of those individuals. “My subjects are mostly African children. They are like an anchor of hope and I want to give a feeling of someone asking themselves about the pieces and me as an artist,” he said.

He added that his inspiration to create such pieces is really the hope that he has to better not only himself but also an individual that falls in love with his work. He said that he is inspired also by faith and motivated by every picture he sees, every child with a bag pack from school and any piece by Lionel Smith or Ann Gollifer. “For me motivation is really something that just randomly comes and goes,” he said.

He mentioned that he has always been artistic but officially started art in 2015. Mabua said that he is different from other artists because of the techniques he uses, as it is time-consuming and requires patience. Also the pieces he mainly create are mostly of children. “I think I’m one of the only artists that focuses on them as a subject thus far,” he said.

The talented artist said that he has exhibitted at social events like Chillstep, Arts and Creative workshops and Ideas Expo. He added that he also had his first exhibition titled ‘The last tribe of Africa’, whose main focus was on the ‘Mursi’ tribe in Ethiopia in 2016.

He highlighted that he plans to bring together his first solo exhibition and also to put in more showcases at art shows and workshops. “I also indulge in creative fields include writing (poetry and spoken word), script-writing and photography. However pointillism is my strongest point,” he said.

According to him, being an artist is really tough in Botswana because the creative industry is not yet entirely considered to bring tangible profits.

“In my honest opinion and my current research and observation, I think and believe we have a long way to go,” he said. He said that there is support from people, but it’s very little. However, there are art lovers who understand the true value and potential that art carries.