Lungango Lwandle

Sizwe Khoza's work started as a comparison between a game of chess and aspects of Sizwe's life. In chess, the object is to protect the King and the other pieces work around this entity. Each piece moves in its very unique and special way, a King can only move one step/block at a time whereas a Queen can move as many blocks and directions as needed. Pawns and other pieces in the game are sacrificed to buy time and protect the king. Sizwe feel we protect a useless piece. Sizwe focus on portraits to tell the story from the eyes and other facial features that form interesting expressions. Sizwe use monotypes (once off) to express the fact that life never repeats itself, actions and moves may be repeated but the outcomes are never the same. This is true of the game of chess too. In Sizwe's more recent work, Sizwe have been looking at youth and children in particular. Sizwe's always intrigued by how kids live life. They seem to enjoy each moment without worry about tomorrow and live with joy and wonder for all the things around them, with so much to explore. My work tries to capture what Sizwe see and hope for the future. Sizwe's always intrigued by how kids live life, enjoying each moment without worrying about tomorrow, living with joy and wonder for all the things that surrounds them, and with so much to explore. Sizwe Khoza on the James Series. Starting from the triptych titled Flowers for you 1-3. Flowers are always perceived as a feminine thing, in this case James is embedded with flower patterns on his skin, similar to Japanese body tattoos which symbolise STRENGTH. The blind embossing symbolises the light which will always guide protect this young King, not forgetting James is still a kid with potential to become anything hence the changing of characters throughout his body of work.