Snelihle Asanda Maphumulo (Gqeberha) | 2025 Merit Award Winner
Ngaphansi kwesithunzi sakhe (under His Shadow) Sheep hide on canvas 63 cm x 80 cm ARTIST’S STATEMENT Engraved on sheep and goat hide are quiet traces — Grandmother, Mother, Granddaughter. A living archive. A tree that keeps growing, reaching beyond what we can see. A gesture toward infinity. The work is born from family photographs […]
Wisani Benjamin Manyisi (Johannesburg)
Melody in solitude Mixed media on paper 93,5 cm x 93,5 cm ARTIST’S STATEMENT This work is inspired by the classical song The Swam (Piano & cello), which struck me while alone in the studio after a long day. Reminding me of time on my grandmother’s farm. A place where I enjoyed being alone to […]
Amogelang Veronica Manoto (Potchefstroom)
Untitled Photography 62 cm x 45 cm ARTIST’S STATEMENT A passionate self-taught artist who turns the human body into sacred canvases, blending ancestral traditions with contemporary expression. My art is deeply spiritual, and it leaves footprints on souls. I create living artworks that respect identity, spirit and cultural heritage by channelling emotions, memory and mysticism […]
Daniel Nhlanhla Mamatepa (Polokwane)
Where thoughts collide Mixed media 72,7 cm x 50,5 cm ARTIST’S STATEMENT What a journey this piece has been! It’s a raw outpouring of everything that swirls within me, a tapestry woven from the chaos and beauty of everyday existence. I poured my soul into every layer, every brushstroke, letting instinct guide my hand. You’ll […]
Vanessa Majoro (Pretoria)
Maletsatsi I Recycled nylon thread and fine liner on Fabriano 68 cm x 51 cm ARTIST’S STATEMENT Would you agree that the evening sky is misleading? How does it deceive us that stars are mapped in the same place each night? How are light years reduced to brief moments of observation? How does it play […]
Emily Rice (Cape Town)
White noise of Endurance Distressed fabric and Plaster of Paris on frame 80 cm x 60 cm ARTIST’S STATEMENT White noise of Endurance explores the delicate, yet powerful structure of vulnerability. Through distressed plaster on canvas, the artwork examines the tension between strength and fragility, where cracks and imperfections mark resilience rather than weakness. The […]
Vian Mervyn Roos (Pretoria) | 2025 Merit Award Winner
2916 Cotton Thread 65 cm x 60 cm x 9 cm ARTIST’S STATEMENT The work engages with the tensions between mechanised perfection and the vulnerability of the handmade. Comprising 2916 individually crafted tassels made from cotton thread and arranged in a 54 by 54 grid, the work focuses on the experience of repetition, tactile labour, […]
Erika Rundle (Pretoria)
Nyctophobia Fabric, wire, batting Installation: 250 cm x 240 cm x 145 cm ARTIST’S STATEMENT Nyctophobia is an extreme fear of the dark, where evil waits in the shadows of the imagination, intensified by agnosia, the inability to recognise objects through sensorial encounters. This artwork emanates personal fears consequential to the imprint of childhood traumas. […]
Vanessa Schmucker (Pretoria)
Mended Paper and thread 85 cm x 46 cm x 12 cm ARTIST’S STATEMENT To mend is to repair — to gather what has been broken, torn, or left behind, and hold it again, gently, in a new form. It is an act of care, of presence, of belief that beauty can remain, even after […]
Thobekile Lauren Shange (Durban)
Mthwalo Wami Uyangisinda (My burden, you are heavy) Metal with woven plastic & organza 215 cm x 90 cm x 75 cm Artist’s Statement This sculptural work is a meditation on inherited family pressure, the quiet weight of provision, and the emotional cost of being relied upon. At its centre is a complex, skeletal noose […]