George Masarira
George Masarira was born on the 9th of May 1990 in Gokwe, Matabeleland North, Zimbabwe. His art career began in 2008, when he became a student at the Mzilikazi Art and Craft Centre in Bulawayo. The central focus of his studies was fine art, but he also studied ceramic design, pottery, and wood carving. Following his graduation at Mzilikazi Art Centre in 2010, he began his journey towards a formal art career by sharing a home studio with Zachariah Mukwira, a professional artist who is now practising in Cape Town, South Africa.
His admission to the National Gallery of Zimbabwe in Bulawayo in 2013 as a resident artist transformed his career immeasurably. The National Gallery is a vibrant and creative artistic space, and the artists he has met and the artworks he has seen in the Gallery have challenged him to explore his full potential and take his work to the next level. “This time I thought of looking back into the history.” George Masariras’ latest work places itself in the socio-political context, one that reflects on history in relation to modern society, emotions and events. The realisation that past events are being paralleled to what is happening today, translate in the understanding that as much as we have developed, we are still confined by the events of the past. Their destructive scale is unimaginable and mentally agitating, however, nature prevails throughout generations and humanity gets a chance to correct itself.
The use of charcoal by George expresses itself as coercion, a metaphor that lends itself to the violence in the context of his works and society alike: this is further supported by lines, as an expression to the violence and unrest within communities with past events being the contributing factors.
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