Ball buster, 2026
Mixed media
51 cm x 24,5 cm x 20 cm
Artist’s Statement
Ball buster began as a traditional wooden nutcracker soldier—a figure built to stand guard, protect, and break things on command. I kept the face, arms, and mechanism of the nutcracker but reshaped the rest to speak about power, opulence, and corruption through the lens of the recent Cat Matlala case.
I carved the pattern from the official police hat into the arms and relocated the nutcracker mechanism to the genital area. This was a deliberate decision. The symbol of “cracking down” is moved to where the abuse of power sits: greed, control, and immunity to consequences. The uniform is central to the work. It is visibly too small for the policeman, with an exaggerated belly straining against the fabric and spilling out of the shirt. To me, it represents authority that has outgrown its purpose, both physically and morally.
The police badge and epaulettes were hand-cut and etched from brass. I designed a badge featuring a cat, directly referencing Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala and Katiso “KT” Molefe. The epaulettes reference the senior officers arrested alongside them. The cat turns rank into rumour and honour into a meme, leaving visible traces of corruption.
The miniature Woolworths bag, hat, and vest were sewn from scratch and mostly by hand. The bag references the reports of Matlala carrying thousands of rands in an ordinary shopping bag. What stayed with me was not that it was hidden, but that it was visible. Like the oversized belly, it points to a system where corruption happens in plain sight.
The wood grain remains visible beneath the paint because corruption does not erase what is underneath; simply layers over it. The soldier can no longer march or protect. He can only consume, crack, and bust.
Gallery
