ILLUSTRATOR Karabo Poppy continues to do wonders with her art.
The artist who was on the Forbes Africa #30Under30 list class of 2019, partnered with Halls on its new campaign, The Breathing Space.
The programme is a dedicated hub in the centre of Joburg, where up-and-coming artists and designers can breathe for their craft and bring their flavour to life in the freshest ways, under the guidance and mentorship of Mzansi’s creative queen, Karabo Poppy.
Poppy will be mentoring two fine artists, a fashion designer, a collage artist, an illustrator and a typographer.
“I will be working with six incredibly talented and diverse creatives on a series of projects/tasks in the hope of accelerating their careers by sharing my expertise and experience, as well as working with them on honing in their different crafts. The mentees were chosen from an open call on Instagram where I received over 1 000 portfolios. I chose these six creatives for their potential, talent and a desire to collaborate with them,” Poppy says.
Although she has been in the game for some time, as an artist, Poppy constantly needs something to inspire her work. To make sure she’s always on top of her game, she takes walks through Joburg and Pretoria CBD to look at and experience great examples of a contemporary African aesthetic and examples of the beauty in every day of these areas.
“I am inspired by the visual aesthetic of Africa, both contemporary and traditional. Our aesthetic has a long rich heritage rooted in constant innovation and hybridity. I believe that every African carries this with them daily, and I believe that it is in everyday seemingly mundane events where this aesthetic is at its most beautiful to me. So I set out to preserve and celebrate it in my work and represent the unrepresented,” she says.
Poppy will also collaborate with the artists to release different bodies of work after the programme.