DURBAN - IT seems as if, at any moment, one of the 1.9m Nelson Mandela sculptured figures on display at the BAT Centre in Durban could come alive.
Artist Lungelo Gumede has masterfully worked in each line and curve on Tata’s face, and in so doing etched a sense of warmth in his smile and wisdom in the crinkle of his eyes.
The queue of Mandela wax sculptures from different stages of his life are among Gumede’s artworks at the BAT centre. His other works there include those of local and international celebrities and political figures.
Gumede, 30, of rural Ndwedwe, near Inanda, shot to international fame recently after a CNN interview.
It had art connoisseurs from around the world in search of him.
During the interview, Gumede was described as moulding Africa’s first wax museum from the ground up.
A trip to Madame Tussauds wax museum in New York forged a burning desire in him to showcase Africa’s waxwork masterpieces.
Gumede has always had an artistic hand. At school, he often drew pictures of his teachers.
“My mom wanted me to be a doctor, but she didn’t have enough money to send me to medical school, so I became an artist. I am living my dream and it gives me freedom to express myself.”
Gumede was awarded a bursary in 2004 to study fine art at the Durban University of Technology.
On Friday, he presented IFP president Mangosuthu Buthelezi with a life-size sculpture at the Durban ICC for his 90th birthday.
“Some of my statutes are my way of appreciating what the person has done for the world. At the time of sculpting Michael Jackson, I was playing his music.”
He said that his most challenging sculpture yet lived, for now, in his workshop behind his showroom.
It’s a life-size figure of Hugh Masekela with puffed cheeks, blowing into his trumpet, reminiscent of the days when he wowed audiences with his smooth and soulful jazz.
However, Gumede preferred to remain tight-lipped about his latest project that is expected to be displayed in a prominent position in the city.