Lazi Mathebula –
VUTOMI I NYIMPI

09.10.21 – 27.10.21
Solo Exhibition at
Kalashnikovv Gallery,
Johannesburg

ARTIST STATEMENT

When we are born into this world, we are considered whole, pure, and un-influenced by the world. That is until we touch the earth and begin to break, and thus, spend our whole lives attempting to piece ourselves back together. In us, we all have properties that represent fragility. Whether this is a response to our continued lived experiences or as a coping mechanism to deal with our everyday lives.

With this body of work, I have chosen to document stories brought forward through conversations with the people around me about their day-to-day lives. In this series of images, my aim is to highlight the fragility of humanity and emphasize the importance of protecting ourselves physically, emotionally and spiritually.

For me as an artist, it is important to remember that who we are in this world, is in fact, made up of fragments of the lives and experiences of those that have come before us and those that are together with us on this journey, these fragments influence our very nature and our being. We may feel isolated in our differences, but it is our similarities that connect our stories.

It is through these moments of sharing and human connection that I realise the perfection behind all of the imperfect fragments that make up who we are as individuals and as a society.