Family sires artists
Lesedi Mkhutshwa | Sunday July 3, 2022 06:00
Kebalepile told Arts & Culture that creativity is a generational skill in her family and has been a source of income for most family members.
The talented artist who has just recently won the inaugural travel and tourism art exhibition also said her father is a well-known craftsman in their village and so are some of her siblings who are also gifted with unique art skills.
“I come from a family of art; my dad and three of my siblings are deeply into art.
One of my elder brothers is an Art teacher and my younger sister is a journalist who is a part painter and drawer, whereas my other brother is a full time artist,” said Kebalepile. Growing up, she said she was fascinated by his brother's artistic portraits and the true meaning behind each drawing and painting, which made her work hard so that she could be a prolific artist.
She further said art is a great inspiration as it can be used as a weapon to conquer the world. According to the 30-year-old, art is a very powerful tool of communication and a vehicle that can be used to educate the community through virtual language. She also stated that her artistic journey made her realise that clarity comes as one ages. Kebalepile added: “You get to understand who you are as you age hence the formation of new principles of life that will help you as someone who has been chosen by God to be used as a medium of communication.” Speaking about her artistry, Kebalepile described herself as a fine artist who uses different mediums to express her feeling through the custom of pencil and paint but has recently started to find comfort in the use of charcoal, chalk pastels and acrylic paints.
Kebalepile, who grew up in Gantsi but moved back home after her parents' retirement from public service, stated that she calls herself a figurative artist who uses form of modern art that retains strong references to the real world using the impressionism technique of art. She explained that impressionism deals with the use of brush strokes, which dominate an artwork.
“I have always been inspired by life through my experience in life, the beauty of life together with our society as a whole,” she said. Kebalepile said her most favourite artwork is titled ‘Imagine the without them’. She said the artwork was made out of charcoal and chalk pastels.
“Basically the artwork was created with distress to uncover the pains that surrounds a girl-child. During the process of creating this piece I was just trying to speak the unspoken with the use of a muted pallet to attain harmony, which is a much anticipated characteristic of the human life,” said the talented artist.
She further explained that if one takes a deep look into the artwork, there is a great contrast with the application of black strokes of charcoal, which is an artist’s way of depicting terror and extraordinary pain that the girl-child goes through in these times.
She added that there is also a depiction of the emotional wave like teardrops running from her eyes, therefore compelling the viewers to relate this high or low frequency within the eventualities of life.