Zama Mwandla

South Africa

Artist Bio

Zama Mwandla is absolutely unapologetic about her focus: the murderous revenge fantasies of rape victims in search of “heinous means to heal from a traumatic past”. Her paintings introduce a panoply of human-animal hybrids which reappear in the series, each character carrying particular signification.

These surreal creatures manifest in playful, seductive, rich colours – a means to entrap a male audience into confronting her graphic and gruesome subject matter. In her bold re-tellings of violence, rumination, psychopathic imagination, rage and grievance, she makes her characters relatable. Mwandla suggests, however, that attempts at revenge are ultimately futile; they are relegated to the world of fantasy, scenes on repeat. Mwandla graduated recently from Wits University with a BAFA (with Honours), achieving multiple awards during her studies under the tutelage of artist and scholar Professor Sharlene Khan. Her work was shown at the African Feminisms (Afems) exhibition in 2019, as well as by She Impressions and Joburge Fringe in 2021. 

You can view Mwandla’s debut group exhibition with Guns & Rain in the Fresh Voices 2022 catalogue.

Exhibitions

  • 2022 Fresh Voices, Guns & Rain, Johanneburg
  • 2021 NEWWORK21, Wits Art Museum, Johannesburg
  • 2021 ESCAPISM, Point of Order, Johannesburg
  • 2021 Joburg Fringe, The Art Room, Johannesburg
  • 2021 She Impressions: Let It Be Known, Online
  • 2020 Black Notes, Alfajiri in Maboneng, Johannesburg
  • 2019 African Feminism (Afems) conference, Witwatersrand University, Johannesburg

Selected Works

Paradise: Two Peas in a Pod

2022
Oil on canvas
109 x 200.3 cm

Paradise: Family Portrait

2022
Oil on canvas
147.1 x 119.5 cm

Man Obsolete: Caught-off-guard

2022
Oil and Acrylic on canvas
59.2 x 84 cm

Man Obsolete: Ambush

2021
Oil and Acrylic on canvas
121.9 x 64.6 cm

Paradise: Forest of deceit

2022
Oil and Acrylic on canvas
149.7 x 149.7 cm

Man Obsolete: Indulge in shame

2022
Oil and Acrylic on canvas
80.3 x 120 cm

Man Obsolete: Virgin balls

2021
Mixed media
59 x 33 x 27 cm

Man Obsolete: Untitled

2021
Oil and Acrylic on canvas
151 x 246 cm

Man obsolete: Seamen milk

2021
Mixed media
50.5 x 13.9 x 9.8 cm

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