Something Curated: WonderBuhle
We are happy to share this great interview with WonderBuhle. Keshav Anand of Something Curated sat down with the artist to learn more about his background and journey to art making. From spirituality to the rejuvenating effects of color, here’s the inside scoop on WonderBuhle:
Read More“The figures in my works are influenced by the people that are living within my community. At the same time, I’m also fascinated by nature and the elements, in particular, the sky and the moon – these very powerful elements that we share energies with, and which reflect on us. I also have a big interest in trying to understand the relationship between us, humans, and other living things. And how all these living forms influence our daily lives in a spiritual way.” – WonderBuhle
ABOUT WonderBuhle
WonderBuhle, born 1989 in South Africa, is a Durban-based visual artist from Kwa-Ngcolosi, a village that is still ruled by a chief. He started making art as a hobby at the age of nine. He says that his mother encouraged him to explore art as a career as he used to play with charcoal from the fire and draw stick figures on the walls of the house as a child.
WonderBuhle received his first formal training through the BAT Centre Artists in Residency (AIR) Program and went on to study fine art through the Velobala apprenticeship program at Durban University of Technology, under the mentorship of Themba Shibase.
The artist states: “I understand my artistic practice as a space between my inner soul, my dreams and my identity. I communicate my views from where I am standing as a black youth in South African society and the world at large. South Africa is in a moment of self-realization; reflecting and embracing its cultural diversities, whilst rewriting its stories through the lenses of young people who are curious, like myself.”
WonderBuhle had his first solo exhibition at the Durban Art Gallery in 2018 and has been included in numerous group shows at Unit, (London, 2020); The Art House (Wakefield, 2018); Michaelis Gallery (Cape Town, 2017); KZNSA (Durban, 2015) and the African Art Centre (Durban, 2014). In 2016, he was the recipient of Bremer Kunststipendium Art Grant (three-month residency) and in 2020; he took part in the La Brea Studio Artists Residency in L.A.
