08/05/2026
The making of Ximememe
This is the process of creating a 6 metre long ceramic snake skeleton for Lebombo.
The artwork is named Ximememe in honour of the legendary, elusive mountain snake deity of the Xitsonga-speaking communities found in the Limpopo and Mpumalanga regions.
This has to be my most challenging and ambitious project to date. For the scale of the project, the 4 month timeline from inception to installation was tight, so everything had to go like clockwork.
Creating such a delicate piece at this scale required a lot of planning. It starts with inspiration, then to sketching and visualising, then the maths (there is more maths than you think in ceramics..), spatial@planning on site (with pool noodles!) through to the individual sculpting of over 350 pieces, and finally the assembly of the piece in the studio to ensure the plan has worked.
What an epic and exciting project this has been, and I look forward to sharing more@of the journey with you all
