FEATURE Artist profile
Japanese manga keeps me inspired too . Over and above , even artists in different industries like music and theatre keep inspiring me . I like artists like Miles Davis and Sipho Gumede . Their music triggers memories that translate into visual inspirational metaphors .
How would you describe the style of your work ? I describe my style of work as curious and afro-centric . A term I loosely use as I began to gravitate onto more African themes and literature for my art and design . My art and designs are not niche as yet as I am still on a journey to discover a distinct art signature . I am loving what we have to offer as Africa to the world .
What is the general inspiration when you sit down to create ? My neighbourhood , my people , music , the internet and the books I keep are often the general inspiration when I want to create . History as a subject and discourse is also a big inspiration in my journey to create and discover my unique art signature .
Can you pick out one or two favourite pieces of your work ? Animal in Man piece ( work in progress ) and the Celebrate : Black Coffee piece are currently my favourite works thus far .
Have you won any awards ? Yes I have . I won the PRISMA PR 2015 campaign of the year award for Gautrain . I also won several design awards like a Gold Loerie Award , a Silver One Show Award , D & AD Design inbook and a Bronze Cannes Lion design award .
What are you currently working on ? I am art-directing a South African National Health campaign called Phila ( loosely translated … Live . A campaign about living a healthy lifestyle and advocating for being inspired to living positively ). I designed the logo and got to present it to the South African minister of health , Dr Aaron Motsoaledi , Minister of Science & Technology , Naledi Pandor and Deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa for approval .
What do you have in store for the next twelve months ? 1 . Phila the campaign under the National Department of Health is a long term behaviour changing work that will carry over more than just the next 12 months . It is a meant to drop rates of disease and change lives for the better , for the young and old . 2 . Art exhibitions and ideas that plug more into the technology spaces like apps and the internet of things frenzy are also more of what I will be doing . 3 . Going to school and studying design for digital media . AD
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