OoNomathotholo meanst Ancestral Whispers. One of my favorite exhibitions at the opening of the season is entitled OoNomathotholo: Ancestral Whispers, a monograph showing the new body of work by South African artist Andile Dyalvane (b. 1978) at Friedman Benda.
In recent years, Andile has emerged as one of the more interesting artists based in South Africa after being introduced in international fairs by the Southern Guild Gallery. His furniture and enormous vessels in ceramics, which he crafts at his studio, are grown from local traditions. But they are also contemporary expressions of design that carry deep spiritual connections and personal stories. Working with clay connects Dyalvane to the soil, the earth, and particularly back to growing up on a farm where he cared for his father’s cattle herd. His work is always about bridging the past and the present while paying homage to his ancestors and, at the same time, participating in 21st-century design culture. His work is imaginative, complex, and biographical, pieces that bring energy and presence to interior spaces. Through preserving traditional knowledge and vocabulary, Dyalvane is able to forge a personal expression.
Ceramics has been a dream for him since he started to play with clay as a child. After completing a National Diploma in Art and Design at Sivuyile Technical College in Gugulethu, Cape Town, as well as a National Diploma in Ceramic Design from Port Elizabeth Technikon in 2003, he started his career as a professional potter, creating furniture and vesslees. Those on the current show at Friedman Benda are not only powerful and expressive, but also intriguing—filled with movements, rich colors of wildflowers and earth, and decorated with marks, incisions, and symbols,—all drawn from his personal and collective memories. They lead you to wonder and ask questions regarding the narrative and metaphors embedded in them. You learn that he imparts the spirit and symbolism of cycles in nature (shifting landscapes, flowing streams, cliffs, tributaries, valleys, peaks, and wildlife) which brings us, the viewers, into his own world.
The way that the monumental vessels are installed in a circle is particularly interesting, as it is framed by ceremonial gatherings. Another smaller installation of tiny vessels hovers around a central totem, bringing the viewer to the cultural reality of the artist; on which he says, “It’s the spirit of fire without having a fire there and the idea of cleansing.” Dyalvane deserves recognition as one of the most intriguing professional ceramicists of recent years. He is a skilled potter who brings a fresh stride into the medium, and his vessels are sublime, embedded with his own culture and dreams.
All images Courtesy of Friedman Benda and Andile Dyalvane; Photography by Hayden Phipps.
