Sizwe Sibisi (b.1986, South Africa) is a visual artist from Kwa-Zulu Natal who taught himself about art thanks to his local library in Pietermaritzburg and the Tatham Art Gallery. He originally trained as a nurse but has now become a full-time artist. “My work celebrates and honours the LGBTQI+ community and Single Mothers. The colourfulness and layering calls to mind ‘confetti’ which signifies celebration and festivity at PRIDE marches and events. The various colours is me sprinkling some confetti onto the downtrodden members of our society. The consistent D shape signifies the profile of a pregnant woman’s stomach. Oftentimes a woman is left to raise her young alone, which is a huge struggle, yet they manage beautifully.”
“Non binary groups and women are subjected to wide lack of acceptance, ridicule and violence. I reflect on this in the intricate patterns of my artworks. Hand-stitching is a part of my art making process, as it reminds me of my mother doing mending for my brother and I growing up. She’s worked as a seamstress most of her life. She’s been taking care of my brother and I by using her hands to stitch. The way I look at it is, women do a good job stitching society together.”
“South Africa as society has a long way to go in terms of normalising and accepting the non-binary. I hope through my work I will shift paradigms and inspire change”.
Selected Exhibitions
2021 - African Galleries Now, Artsy
2021 - MOVART: New Era for Humanity, Lisbon
2021 - Eclectica Contemporary: 11:11 Group show, Cape Town
2021 - Guns & Rain with the Bag Factory: Meeting Places, Johannesburg
2021 - 99 Loop Gallery: Untitled 8.99 group show, Cape Town
2020 - African Galleries Now, Artsy
2020 - Guns & Rain: Fresh Voices, Online