Nwasanti wa matimba a nga heli mongo

Phillemon Hlungwani

In this exhibitin Phillemon returns to the etching press which is his first love and whose arcane and ancient skills he has mastered. These works reprise a theme which is seminal to understanding who he is as a person and thence as an artist.

Raised in a rural African village by a mother who was widowed at a young age, he grew up watching women work so that their families would survive. The unrelenting labour of women is a reality but to Phillemon it is what nurtured his body and his talents. He sees in a women’s labour both love and redemption in their purest sense.

These complex and technically brilliant etchings reflect everyday subjects and make them clear to us. Phillemon makes delicate use of hand-colouring thus emphasizing the femininity of his subjects.

These works have been made with the assistance of master printer Pontsho Sikhosana and her team at the Artist Proof Studio.