Impending Doom Approaching

Africa is known for its bold, unapologetic use of colour. Stories are told in pigments, tones and hues; a kaleidoscope as diverse as the cultures and peoples of the continent. For the initiative Colours of Africa, a collaborative project with Google Arts & Culture, we asked 60 African creatives to capture the unique spirit of their country in a colour which represents home to them.

The projects they have created are personal and distinct stories of Africa, put into images, videos, texts and illustrations. Each artist has also attempted to articulate what being African means to their identity and view of the world.

Colour:Mzanzi Cobalt
Country:South Africa

Artwork Rationale:

The colour blue, more importantly cobalt, has a long royal history. From being the most expensive pigment for paint (Lapis Lazuli) to being the colour carrying away slaves to the newfound world, drowning in the depths, forgotten, thrown overboard, enveloped for all eternity by the deepest, darkest blue.
The colour of the sky above Table Mountain as white washing approaches. The tides bring more people from everywhere all speaking in different tongues and Susanna Een Oor van Bengal (Susanna One Ear from Bengale) swirls in blue to the bottom of Table bay in a woven hessian sack.

What it means to be African

To be South African is to constantly wait, to be tricked by hope, to see a rainbow sink into a mine dump, to live many lives. To be South African is to live and strive for freedom and to know that freedom can only come from within.

Biography

Lady Skollie (born Laura Windvogel) is a feminist artist and activist from Cape Town, South Africa. She graduated with a degree in History of Art and Dutch Literature from the University of Cape Town in 2009 and her subsequent solo exhibitions include Vroeg Ryp, Vroeg Vrot, 2015, Stevenson Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa; Ask for what you want, WorldArt Gallery, 2015, Cape Town, South Africa; The only reason, 2014, Stevenson Gallery RAMP Project, Cape Town, South Africa; and Skattie Celebrates Laura Windvogel, Association for Visual Arts Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa, 2017.

Filled with bold colour, god-like figures and suggestive fruits, Lady Skollie’s work revolves around themes of gender, sex and the politics of lust, as well as her musings on identity.