2022 Runner-Up: Omolemo Rammile (Bloemfontein)

Mére célibataire (single mom)
Embossing on Fabriano
Diptych

Congratulations on being announced as one of the 7 winners in the Sasol New Signatures Competition 2022. Tell us what your reaction was when you received the news.

When I received the news, I was in awe and emotional. I received the news on my birthday, so I was overjoyed!

Is this the first time you have entered the competition? 

Yes, this is my first time entering the competition. I have been eager to enter the competition since 2019, when I first heard about it, but had uncertainty about my work every year until this year, when I decided to take the chance and enter. No time could have been better than now.

Tell us a little about your artistic journey up until the point of entering Sasol New Signatures 2022.

I have loved drawing and being creative from a very young age. There was no art at school, and I couldn’t be as creative, or learn more about art as I would have loved to, so immediately after my matric, I promised myself to give my artistic self a chance. That’s where my journey with art began. I completed my Diploma in Design and Studio art at the Central University of Technology in Bloemfontein and have since been creating art, commissions and featuring in local pop-up exhibitions. I’m currently studying towards my Advanced Diploma in Studio art.

Who has had the biggest influence on your career as an artist to date? 

My work is not influenced by a specific person but rather my own life experiences, environment and how I make sense of all that happens. Moments, observed scenes and emotions are reflected in my creations.

Tell us a little about why you created the piece you submitted. 

I created this work late last year as part of my multimedia drawing project. My mother always kept bread tags in a box and told me I could use them one day for my art. When I was creating my multimedia artwork, my lecturer said, “think outside of the box,” and I immediately thought about the bread tags she kept. I somehow tried to find a way of connecting the bread tags to my mother in order to formulate a concept.

This work made me start reflecting on my upbringing, my mother's tremendous role, and all the efforts she made. That’s when I realized that the bread tags symbolize the sacrifice she has made as a single mother raising me together with my with sister; hence there are two embossings. I created this work to honour and pay tribute to my mother, all mothers, single parents and breadwinners that put their life's desires on hold to feed families and provide for them. It comments on the seen yet unseen sacrifices that are normalized.

With the embossing imprints, I aimed to highlight the lasting impact and mark the sacrifices have on their families. This work is quite personal to me, and being able to share my story with South Africa is really what I think is the beauty of it all.

Tell us about your preferred medium/s ...and why. 

As I use multiple mediums in my work, my preferred medium is acrylic paint, which is easy to work with and dries quickly.

When people view your work – what reaction/response are you hoping to create? 

I hope to broaden peoples mind’s after they view my work and try to make them see life differently and appreciate it more. I want people to see and believe in the beauty of life and art. Through my work, I want to make people learn to romanticize their daily struggles and make them realize that their labours, expenditures, and efforts matter and do have an impact.

Why do you think your work was chosen as a top 7?

I think my work was chosen as part of the top 7 because it’s a cohesive body of work, from the title to the actual body of work and artist statement. They are connected. Another reason could be that it was hang ready and paid careful consideration to how an artwork could exist in a gallery space, e.g. Clips and not frames.

And if you are chosen as the overall winner? How would you feel? Have you already got an idea/ vision for your solo exhibition?

I would be blown away if I were to be chosen as the overall winner. I would be happy and very content. For my solo exhibition, I would explore embossing more and incorporate and make works from different mediums.

What are you currently working on? What is next for you as an artist? 

I am currently working on a multimedia piece titled ‘Indigenisation and Africanism’ and looking toward planning and working on my mural artwork for later this year.

Which South African artists do you admire and why?

I admire Ennock Mlangeni. I love his style of art and his work ethic. I like the fact that he explores different mediums in each of his pieces and how he uses any material he finds, like coffee and newspapers, to create his masterpieces.

Anything else you would like to add?

Just a message to all young artists like me: They should not doubt their art. They should believe in their work.