Xhosa Twins
exhibition
WHAT
Artwork
WHERE
Ann Bryant Art Gallery
WHEN
October 29. 2015.
Sonwabiso Ngcai’s Xhosa Twins exhibition opens at the main gallery of the Ann Bryant Art Gallery on October 29.
Ngcai is a Master’s degree student studying through Vaal University of Technology.
“My works explore myths, beliefs and ritual practices relating to the birth, life and death of Xhosa twins. In working on the concept of twins I have created installation sculptures where I look at notions of connectedness, duality, multiplicity and mirroring,” he said.
Ngcai said the fact that he is “a multiple product of my mother goes hand in hand with my creative style and the idea of multiples and multiplicity”.
His works are created with clay as main medium, to which are incorporated found objects, “thereby forming both abstract and realistic images of varying scale, just as variation occurs in fraternal and identical twins, as well as in triplets.
Born as a twin into a rural Xhosa community he had experienced unusual practices during his upbringing, he said.
As written in Show Me
“My works explore myths, beliefs and ritual practices relating to the birth, life and death of Xhosa twins. In working on the concept of twins I have created installation sculptures where I look at notions of connectedness, duality, multiplicity and mirroring,” he said.
“This approach is inspired by British sculptor Antony Gormely. It relates to the fact that my work has always been in the form of multiple components. This is because multiplicity has been such an important part of my life, because of my own experience of being a twin.”
Ngcai said the fact that he is “a multiple product of my mother goes hand in hand with my creative style and the idea of multiples and multiplicity”.
His works are created with clay as main medium, to which are incorporated found objects, “thereby forming both abstract and realistic images of varying scale, just as variation occurs in fraternal and identical twins, as well as in triplets.
“The broader thematic context of my work also alludes to a heightened sensitivity to the idea of cultural prescriptions, social behaviour and concepts of identity which are prevalent in societies that attach metaphysical ideas to the notion of twins and conformities.”
Born as a twin into a rural Xhosa community he had experienced unusual practices during his upbringing, he said.
“In my artworks I have tried to create awareness of how culture and identity can mould an individual. My works also add to the body of knowledge about local ritual practices and Xhosa indigenous knowledge systems to do with twins,” he said.
As written in Show Me