Oomathotholo bayeza, 2025
Collected ochres and primer on blanket
200 cm x 176 cm
Artist’s Statement
Oomathotholo bayeza (the return) is part of a body of work that is a practice-based research project that explores the concept of trauma in the Xhosa rural Eastern Cape, South Africa. The body of work looks at how trauma is interpreted, engaged with and the different states it comes in through a reflexive perspective. In the body of work, I work with ingcawe and collected ochres to reference the rural. Through collecting and working with ochres, I invoke ukusula, a mural painting practice in the Mpondo rural area, to think about healing in practice/as a practice.
Oomathotholo bayeza delves into the theme of uncanny phenomena. Through this theme and hybrid figuration in the painting, I think about Alex Monk’s concept of ‘Curse Position ‘ and the tension between seeing and believing.
