Motseki’s body of work explores and attempts to visually record the rhythms and patterns of several periods in his life through lines and mark making. The action of carving a lino-plate is an act of removal and relooking for Thabo. The marks in/on the plate represent his interpretation of time, pulse, negotiation, pattern and life as a rhythm.
He records the consistencies and inconsistencies in these ideas and represents these as abstractions which are open for negotiation and conversations. He draws his inspiration from people who have been affected by similar experiences to him and who have a told stories through different platforms, both socially and within the arts. His work is visually grounded on the African continent yet it unpacks and negotiates urban themes and ideas such as healing, scarification and vibrations. He simultaneously draws inspiration in from both his immediate environment as well as global influences.
His latest artworks portray the power of women at a time when it’s challenging and at times deadly to be a woman. The artworks are diverse, complex and inspirational to the viewer, yet they offer comfort and a glimmer of hope.
Since 2006, Molefe has been probing the possibilities of printing through ever-evolving contemporary styles and techniques. At the core of his practice are the limitations he imposes on himself as a point of departure, in order to have ‘something to push against, something to show, something to hide’ and thereby expand and redefine our understanding of printmaking.
In the recent body of work, various subjects and forms contain the (un)spoken words and the chants/whispers. The prints are consistent with Molefe’s continual quest to test and push the boundaries of the process of printing and what occurs on the pictorial surface during that process. The viewer is offered a glimpse into what grounds the work, which could be a letter or two, a statement or even a headline that the print impression is made upon.
All this is done in an attempt to question and redefine masculinity, ethnicity and spirituality in the contemporary South African Art Space in 2021.
Combining impersonal gestures with bold text, Molefe investigates the contrasts between the flat foreground and the texture of the ink as it dissolves and drips down the surface. Balancing the immediacy of free gesture with the restricted mark-making that comes with the use of a template, the prints oscillate between geometric rigidity and organic forms.
The reduction of colour, depth and surface in this new body of work highlights Molefe’s recourse to recurrent themes. Using these explorations, he aims to decolonize spirituality for self, as seen in his works such as ‘Akuhlangani’ and ‘Abadala bayasikhalela, bayasilwela’. The evocative titles given to works aim to get the artworks to remain open-ended, attempting to call us to take time, to stop and look.
