Still Still Exhibition view

"NIRIN for me relates to the idea of transformation. There are considerable changes in the state and nature of an object while in motion. This shift creates a build-up of energy, which alters or enhances our ‘nature-self’. This process can lead to a sense of uprootedness from our environment. We have no choice other than to live in harmony with our surroundings. We are joined at the hip to the bark, soil and water. Our hearts beat the same tune. But instead, we often wear costumes of moral inadequacy, seeking profit over relevance."

Across these drawings, forms seem to be caught mid-transition, in on-going states of transformation that are in keeping with Masamvu’s description of his works as ‘mutant.’ Surreal and sketchy, they might be read as attempts to capture shifting psychological states.

Masamvu’s work draws upon his own continual movement, both physical and psychological, in an on-going search for new perspectives and self-knowledge. The repetition of ‘still’ in his accompanying poem, might indicate the stagnating structures and systems of oppression from which his restless, mutating artworks take flight or undermine.

Left to Right: Misheck Masamvu, Pegged, 2019; Border Dispute, 2019; Food Tree, 2019; No Need for Voices, 2019; Smoke Signal, 2019; Table Cloth, 2019; No Ants, 2019; and Still Still, 2019. Installation view for the 22nd Biennale of Sydney (2020), Campbelltown Arts Centre. Courtesy the artist and Goodman Gallery, Cape Town / Johannesburg / London.