A smiling young man stands side on, arms wrapped around himself on a block red background with a flower and a grey border.

Kudzanai-Violet Hwami

Kudzi

€4,000

Edition of 35

Shipping within 2 weeks

In tender collaged canvases, Kudzanai-Violet Hwami abstracts the contexts of her friends and family – an allegory for identities displaced, or otherwise fragmented.

Kudzi started as a digital collage of the artist’s cousin. Printed, painted on and then faithfully recreated in 17 silkscreen layers. Glossy swathes of colour obscure a halftone-modulated, monochromatic underprint. These innovative techniques – born of close collaboration with artisan printmakers in London – echo the rich, multimedia surfaces of Hwami’s original paintings.

“Here stands a shy, joyous Zimbabwean young man free from realities facing LGBTQ people in Southern Africa.”

The artwork encompasses a collaboration between Hwami, Avant Arte and Queercircle. From September 15, Kudzi will be installed in Queercircle’s reading room alongside a curated selection of queer literature. Visit the accompanying journal to learn more, and for the chance win an artist’s proof!

Behind the scenes

Kudzanai-Violet Hwami

2 collaborations

Kudzanai-Violet Hwami paints colourful portraits full of energy and life. She draws from her experiences living between multiple places – Zimbabwe, South Africa and the UK. Family photographs and found images tend to be her starting point. Hwami then paints these into abstract backdrops and domestic scenes. Crucially, she separates the figures from their original context – a symbol of displacement. Finally, splashes of saturated colour are added over the top. The finished paintings are almost patchwork. Individuals, objects and pools of pigment layer on top of each other. Just like the disparate memories and experiences they represent.

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