Isizukulwane, 2025
Red terracotta clay and copper oxide
25 cm x 16 cm diameter
Artist’s Statement
This piece is part of my series of my work Abazukulwana Isizukulwane (grandchildren and great grandchildren) produced in 2025. A body of work that tells a story of my growth and how I perceive life as a young man. In a world where there’s a huge margin between men and women that separates them by going against each other instead of uniting and understanding one another. Femininity and masculinity shouldn’t be treated as separate attributes of human nature but rather as opposite poles that attract each other.
And because I grew up being surrounded by females, that is, my three sisters. This piece is inspired by one of my sisters, portraying the influence and understanding I had of women attributes through carving of cornrows. This also brings a nostalgic feeling of how my sisters used to plait our great grandmother’s hair while she was telling folklores. The text on the belly is my clan’s name stylised to look more like a design.
With clay, specifically red clay, which has a firm and stable consistency when building with it using the coiling technique, I have established a relationship with its flexibility and easy manipulation, which resorts in therapeutic essence bringing nostalgic memories of playing with my siblings during childhood. A raw material that comes from mother nature. After the bisque firing, copper oxide is applied to the modernised and stylised text designs of my clan names. Once glaze fired at 1100–1200°C, the copper oxide develops a dark, metallic depth, portraying the honour and dignity I have as umXhosa.
The oxide also leaves shades of green on the texture of the ceramic bodies which symbolises harmony, balance, and love.
