Manyaku Mashilo, a Cape Town-based artist, engages in a diverse range of artistic expressions including mixed-media painting, drawing, and collage. In her work, she explores subjects such as spiritual identity, memory, ancestry, community and belonging. Drawing inspiration from photographic archives, Mashilo constructs expansive compositions that portray abstract transitional spaces where symbolic embodiments of Black culture traverse. These compositions serve as celestial maps, interconnecting the depicted Black figures by evoking a profound sense of shared heritage, spirituality, collective ritual, and purpose.
My goal as an artist is to use my gift to share my history and past so that people like me can find representation and healing in our shared lived experiences.
I draw inspiration from memory, ritual, photographic archives, Jazz music, my peers and the world. Everything visual around me…