ART lovers have just more than a week to catch work by Durban ceramicist, Sbonelo Tau Luthuli, at the Durban Art Gallery. Entitled The Song of the Soil, the exhibition features conceptual, contemporary ceramic vessels.
In an interview with Tonight, Luthuli explains how his journey in art began. “My interest in art developed when I realised that I was good at drawing. This was during primary school. It then grew when I realised that I was really good so I started to invest more time in drawing,” he shares.
Luthuli says his contemporary conceptual ceramic vessels are not ordinary vessels: “They are vessels with which I address, convey and communicate issues which concern me, my family and the community in which I live. They represent me, my ideas, my thoughts, my feelings and everything else that I embody. In my work, I use ceramic vessels as a premise to challenge, question and comment on certain aspects of rules and laws that serve as guidelines when creating a ceramic vessel. My vessels are inspired by traditional domestic vessels that were previously produced for functional purposes. However, I bring in a distinct voice, a design identity that reflects my ideologies and my thoughts. This transforms the vessel, giving it a totally unique look that is contemporary and reflective of today’s culture.”
On his creative process, he says: “As an artist, one can never really say or point out one source or entity as the influence to their work, because I believe that my existence and experience informs who I am and has an influence on how creative I can be. Therefore, my ideas come from my experiences as an existing soul or spirit. And the best part about being an artist is that I don’t get to report to a boss.
“I work freely. But the very best part of what I do is seeing a final product of what first came about as just an idea and finally manifesting into a tangible object. Seeing people touched by what you do, even to an extent that they cry or share their deepest, sincere feelings with regard to how you or your artworks have touched them, that’s another great part of being an artist.”
Like many great artists, Luthuli has faced some obstacles too: “What is very common with artists is that we struggle to sell our work. The worst part of my job is that I don’t have a studio from which to work. I work from a dining room and I don’t have a space to put my work. I just put it anywhere around the house where I feel it is safe. In addition, I’m not well recognised and my work hardly gets sold so I struggle. What is worse, is to find someone expecting to buy your artwork with next to nothing even though they realise the value of the work, but attempt to exploit. Artists are a value to any country, and should therefore be treated as such.”
• The exhibition ends Sunday at the Durban Art Gallery. There is a walkabout tomorrow at 1pm. Call Witty Nyide: 031 311 2274