Siyabonga Fani

B. 1981

Fani’s work is, in part, a requiem for his father, the self-taught artist who would draw sketches of television characters and perpetually redecorate their home. Since his father’s death, Fani’s clay is heavier; it bears the smell of smoke, pit-fired in the alleyway outside the studio. Fani hand-coils his pieces, working intuitively, drawing forms from the bodies of trees, the rivers and the human beings who make lives from the earth.

Featured Artworks

Dudlu [Beautiful Woman]
I Ndlela Zam I [My Ways I]
I Ndlela Zam II [My Ways II]
Imbokodo [Rock]
Intokazi I [Lady I]
Mkosazana [The Queen]
Ndim Lo [This is me]
Ndim Ndinje [I am Me]
Nobuhle [Beauty]
Nolali [Village Girl]
Nomvula [Rain]
Nontyantyambo [Flower]
Ntandokazi [Loved One]
Ntombi Yom Xhosa [Xhosa Girl]
Sisanda [We still rising]
Sonia Bise [Make us Happy]

“And standing in the silence of the studio, with the lights off and the door locked, are the products of this flame, this lacerated landscape: Indlovukazi (Queen), Ntandokazi (Darling). Moulded by the amorous hands of their sculptor, they are serpentine, feminine, with curving necks, upturned chests, and the crooks of exaggerated collar bones. They are part women, part land, and beloved in the most impenetrable sense of the word.”

- Extract from CLAY FORMES

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