12/05/2026
𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯?
This body of work is titled Abantwana Bomthandazo — 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘗𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳
The collection was inspired by the Awakening Social Sessions exhibition, where the theme was “Umthandazo — an ode to God.”
At the time, this body of work was meant to be part of that exhibition, but I wasn’t able to complete it then. And in a way I think that distance became necessary, because what this work became is not what I initially set out to make.
As I continued working, I found myself moving away from the idea of prayer as something spoken and becoming more interested in what prayer looks like when it is lived.
The focus shifted toward children, not as symbols but as individuals who carry a quiet kind of awareness. There’s a presence in them, something still but deeply weighted.
What I began to explore is that space where childhood is not lost… but altered. Where responsibility arrives too early. Where silence is not emptiness, but something that holds meaning.
Working in monochrome allows me to remove distraction and focus entirely on that presence. Light and shadow are not just shaping the figure… they’re revealing what sits beneath, what isn’t being said.
This collection doesn’t try to explain these experiences… and it doesn’t try to resolve them.
It simply asks you to witness.
To sit with what is often overlooked…
and to recognize that sometimes, a prayer is not something spoken out loud…
Sometimes… it’s something lived.
