Ntsako Nkuna - S T O P N O N S E N S E

06.05.23 - 27.05.23
Solo Exhibition at
Kalashnikovv Gallery,
Johannesburg

Artist Statement

The intention behind my work is centered around how we choose to design our society architecturally and how these architectural decisions bring light to our values, beliefs, and fears, we shape our buildings, and they shape us. There’s always a sense of mystery once you enter a neighborhood with high fences, this eerie ambiance sparks the urge to find out what happens on the other side, this speaks to our need to connect within gated communities. I incorporate modular play systems (restaurant slides) into domestic spaces because I can recall playing and interacting in them in a way that mimicked a neighborhood type of interaction, factors like territory, privacy, and ownership exist in spaces of play. I take a multimedia approach to my work each piece starts off as a series of photographs which I then use as a reference to reimagine these photographs into 3D renders, sculpting on 3D software allows me to blur the line between reality and fiction, I layer sculptural elements like burglar bars to highlight the notion of territory, and privacy, these burglar bars also take on other forms as they highlight the beautiful form of structural barriers, barriers that speak to our ugly fears.