By: Mo Senne (Senior Communications Officer)
The announcement of the Sasol New Signatures award winners is a defining moment in the South African arts calendar, an annual demonstration of the nation's burgeoning creative talent. The Rhodes University Fine Art Department is celebrating a historic achievement this year. Two of its students from the Fine Art Practice program, specialising in Sculpture, were recognised for their ground-breaking work. It is worth noting that the Main Fine Art building is a gracious historic structure with the distinction of being the first purpose-built art school in the country.
Snelihle Maphumulo, currently a Master of Fine Art student, and Sarah Volker, currently a fourth-year student, have accolades that underscore the Department’s commitment to fostering a new generation of artists who articulate profound personal narratives through innovative material practice. This dual success is not merely a win for the individual students - it represents an unprecedented milestone for the University's Fine Art program, solidifying its reputation as a leading incubator for artistic excellence in the country.
The Sasol New Signatures Visual Arts Competition, South Africa's longest-running and most prestigious art platform, has a long-standing legacy of launching the careers of the country's most respected contemporary artists. Since its sponsorship by Sasol in 1991, the competition has consistently provided a crucial entry point for emerging visual artists to gain national exposure, professional validation, and a foothold in the competitive art world. It stands as a barometer of the national zeitgeist, with artists using their work to reflect on and respond to the complexities of the world around them. For the works of two students from a single department to be honoured in the same year speaks volumes about the quality of the training and mentorship they received, highlighting the unique and powerful pedagogical approach employed by their Fine Art Practice supervisor, Professor Maureen de Jager.
The success of these young sculptors is a direct reflection of a guiding philosophy that encourages art as a conduit for personal truth. This is a core tenet of the department's program, particularly as students move into their more self-directed final years. Professor Maureen de Jager, the Sculpture Section Head who supervised both award-winning works, elaborates on this approach: "In their third and fourth Year, our Fine Art Practice students increasingly work towards self-directed study within their chosen media area. Both Maphumulo and Volker are based in Sculpture, where they produced their award-winning works.” Prof de Jager notes that Maphumulo’s work was initially produced as part of her fourth-year portfolio, and Volker’s was as part of her third-year portfolio. “As a lecturer, I typically encourage my students to choose themes and ideas underpinned by personal significance. These are then teased out - and given tactile, material form - in and through various processes of creative 'play'."
This process is perfectly exemplified in the work of Maphumulo, who turned inward to explore the profound notions of inheritance and faith within her Zulu heritage. Her Merit Award-winning work, titled 'Ngaphansi kwesithunzi sakhe (under His Shadow)', is a delicate yet powerful dialogue with her ancestry. Crafted from sheep hide on canvas and framed with resilient sorghum seeds, the work is born from fragile family photographs. She describes that the piece is a "living archive" where quiet, furtive images of her grandmother, mother, and herself are laser-engraved onto the hide. This juxtaposition of a modern technique with a traditional material transforms the hide into a "quiet personal sermon on faith," an "act of reverence and resistance" against the slow erosion of time. The force of the engraving echoes the depth of her inheritance and grief, while the sorghum seeds—minor, sacred, and resilient—symbolise that nothing truly ends, that what is planted will rise again.
This is not the first time the competition has recognised Maphumulo; her win is even more significant given that she was also a Merit Award winner the previous year, a remarkable feat demonstrating a consistent and maturing artistic vision. Maphumulo's 2024 award-winning work, ‘Umnikelo’, is an 18-part installation that uses sheep hides, wax plates, and beer crates. These materials are not just artistic choices; they are symbolic. The sheep hides represent the expected subservience of women in Zulu culture, and the wax plates symbolise the endless cycle of service. This use of material is central to the work's meaning, inspired by Nandipha Mntambo, a prominent South African artist known for using organic materials to examine issues of identity and transformation. Maphumulo’s sculptures interrogate how women in Zulu culture are the backbone of households yet often go uncelebrated, as reflected in her series of works commenting on women's unacknowledged labour and sacrifice in ceremonial and domestic spaces.
In a different corner of the studio, Volker drew inspiration from her experiences as a dancer, creating a piece that speaks to the dualities of her discipline. Her award-winning sculptural installation, 'Taut, Tethered, and Torn', explores the tension between a dancer's body and mind, where physical endurance intersects with emotional strain. She masterfully used ballet stockings, stretching them over coarse, brutal materials like cement blocks and bricks. As stated in her artist's statement, some forms are "stretched to their limits and hung, while others envelop broken cement, causing the fabric to tear and strain." The work, with its forms "pinned at the waist and legs", dragged downwards by the weight of the materials, literally embodies the "physical pressure and psychological burden" of dance culture. It questions what is sacrificed in pursuing perfection and how the body bears the marks of these expectations. The visual contrast between the ethereal fabric and the heavy, unyielding building materials creates a visceral and relatable commentary on the unseen demands placed on the human form.
The artists' shared methodology unites these two disparate bodies of work: their powerful repurposing of found objects and materials to symbolise complex personal ideas. Professor de Jager observed, "In both cases, the artists repurposed found objects and materials (animal hide, ballet stockings and discarded building material) to symbolise their powerful, personal ideas." This artistic alchemy elevates everyday, often overlooked items into potent carriers of human experience. The pieces are not just static objects; they are a physical manifestation of deeply personal ideas, allowing viewers to profoundly connect with the artists' journeys. Their award-winning creations are not merely triumphs of technical skill but powerful reminders that the most meaningful art is often born from the courage to look inward and give form to the invisible forces that shape our lives.
The collective success of these two students demonstrates that the Rhodes University Fine Art Department is more than just an educational institution; it is a sanctuary for introspection, a place where personal narratives are not just told but are built, etched, and stretched into being, forever adding to the rich tapestry of South African art.