Living the art dream

Thato Kala | Friday January 24, 2014 15:29

 

It has taken her remarkable gift to captivate people of different nationalities with her works.

To date, she has pieces as far as Vietnam, Uganda and India. And the overly withdrawn artist does not see  as reason to draw attention to herself. Her dream is to see a piece by a Motswana artiste displayed at an international art exhibition, with the abundant talent the country has, she says is possible.

'I would love to attend an international exhibition and see a piece by a Motswana artiste,' she says.

The studious Leshomo talks cultural art and emphasises the need to explore different aspects of art like food art. “Our culture is so rich and we can use it to pull in art investors and tourists.'

She rates her piece that is in Vietnam her best ever. In fact, she has pictures of the artwork taken at different stages of making it.  

Interestingly, the piece that was bought by an African for an Indian colleague depicts the landscape painting of Mount Kilimanjaro with a giraffe.

Never mind that she has never seen the three volcanic peaks because it was excellently done.

She reveals the Mount Kilimanjaro portrait took the longest ever time to complete. “It took me a long time to complete it; it took about two to three months to actually finish it.'

The piece in Uganda depicts two people doing a traditional Botswana dance; a facet of art she feels her fellow artists could use to sell the country to the world. She also exhibited a piece entitled ‘Beauty Is In The Eye of The Beholder' at the State of the Art Kuala Lumpur in 2011. It was a snake and a flower combined together in the artwork.

She picks her biggest lesson from all this exposure as the revelation that artists can give the outside world a glimpse into Botswana through their work. Artistes in Asian countries have embraced the same concept. Immediately one steps into Changi Airport, Asia’s second-busiest for international travel, they see artworks by locals displayed. Art works by locals in Asian countries are displayed on mobile phone covers.

And a quick google search also shows a concept Malaysia has adopted – One Malaysia Contemporary Art – in which they take tourists on an art trip that stretches over a long period.

 The trips display works by artists in Malaysia and most of them are eventually bought by the tourists who want to carry souvenirs back to their respective countries.

Leshomo believes with the support of everyone, Botswana could take a similar route more so that the leadership of the country has been talking about diversifying the economy.

'Art can be integrated into any sector of the country’s economy.  Artists cannot be stuck with wanting exhibitions all the time.'

Her conviction is that art is not something confined to being pinned on the wall. But she is well aware that such developments will not happen overnight, and insists local artists need to work towards that goal as a unit.

The Business Information Systems (BIS) graduate plans to get outdoor exhibitions specifically for tourism. The 24-year-old wants the artistic legacy passed on to the next generation.

'We need to find kids that want to make art their life and invest into them.'

The brainy artist has discovered a way to spark some inspiration. She takes to her blog ‘Art Chase’ each time she needs to trigger motivation in her.

Perhaps her passion for art was picked from her older sister, who, she says, was drawing all the time. She studied Technical drawing and technology. 

However, she presently does it as a hobby. 

Despite attaining her BIS degree, she remains resolute on the dream to own an art gallery in Botswana. In fact, she says part of what she studied involves a bit of business while the technology aspect allows her to further her newfound passion for digital art.

This year, her aim is to absorb as much information about art from her fellow artists. Her inspiration in as far as art is concerned is drawn from art’s founding fathers like Pablo Picaso, Paul Cadden and Salvador Dali.

Her local hero has always been Neo Matome while she also speaks highly of the likes of up and coming Fikile Mabula and Frank Monageng.

She first learnt about the Picasos and Dalis when assigned to research about them during her days in secondary school. 

 And she models some of her works around them. 'From Dali's work I picked he relates stuff affecting him in his environment.  It causes you to think about a lot of things.'

The smart as a whip artist is certainly set for dizzy heights in art with all the exposure and wisdom.