VISUAL ARTIST // SCULPTOR // MOTHER // VISUAL ARTIST // SCULPTOR // VISUAL ARTIST // SCULPTOR // MOTHER // VISUAL ARTIST // SCULPTOR // VISUAL ARTIST // SCULPTOR // MOTHER // VISUAL ARTIST // SCULPTOR // MOTHER // VISUAL ARTIST // SCULPTOR // MOTHER //
CREATING FROM A POLITCIALLY CHARGED SPACE // CREATING FROM A POLITCIALLY CHARGED SPACE // CREATING FROM A POLITCIALLY CHARGED SPACE // CREATING FROM A POLITCIALLY CHARGED SPACE // CREATING FROM A POLITICALLY // CREATING FROM A POLITICALLY // CREATING FROM A POLITICALLY // CREATING FROM A POLITICALLY
NEGOTIATING EXISTENCE // CELEBRATING RESILIENCE // NEGOTIATING EXISTENCE // NEGOTIATING EXISTENCE // CELEBRATING RESILIENCE // NEGOTIATING EXISTENCE // NEGOTIATING EXISTENCE // CELEBRATING RESILIENCE // NEGOTIATING EXISTENCE //
The first phase of Sibande’s work is concerned with the history of Apartheid - the systematic, institutionalised oppression of black and coloured people in South Africa during the 1900s - which the artist examines from deep inside it.
Caught In A Rapture
2008
The first phase of Sibande’s work is concerned with the history of Apartheid - the systematic, institutionalised oppression of black and coloured people in South Africa during the 1900s - which the artist examines from deep inside it.
Caught In A Rapture
2008
I Put A Spell On Me
2009
The artist inhabits her history; imagining and reconstructing the narrative through the lived experience of her maternal ancestors — tracing paths of servitude patterns of injustice.
The Wait Seem To Go On Forever
2009
They Don't Make Them Like They Used To
2008
Sophie is the principal character in Sibande’s work —her alter-ego, donning multiple personas through which the artist expands and deepens her own empathetic imagination.
Her Majesty Queen Sophie
2010
In the Blue phase, Sophie often appears as a maid — a black woman bound to a life of servitude in a white patriarchy. She wears blue garments - the colour a reference to labour uniforms - juxtaposed with elements of Victorian-era dress.
Artwork
2008
I'm A Lady
2009
Rubber Soul: Monument of Aspiration
2011
“My work is not about complaining about Apartheid, or an invitation to feel sorry for me because I am black and my mothers were maids. It is about celebrating what we are as women in South Africa today and for us to celebrate, we need to go back, to see what we are celebrating. To celebrate, I needed to bring this maid.”
I Have, I Have Not
2010
I Decline, I Refuse To Recline
2008
This phase includes a chapter of turquoise, where Sophie is depicted as a soldier —a salute to Sibande’s estranged father. Here, the artist turns her attention to her paternal history, contemplating masculinity and gender roles.
Her Majesty Queen Sophie
2008
Her Majesty Queen Sophie
2008
Everything Is Not Lost
2011
This phase includes a chapter of turquoise, where Sophie is depicted as a soldier —a salute to Sibande’s estranged father. Here, the artist turns her attention to her paternal history, contemplating masculinity and gender roles.
Living In Memory
2011
Silent Symphony
2010
Toward the end of this first phase, new colours bloom beneath layers of blue and green: purple appears underneath a blue dress in The Reign, 2010 signifying a subtle transformation.
The Reign
2010
“Sophie comes as a culmination of [their] collective escapism; the escapism used in the work to tell stories through sculpture, dress and installation.”
