nomThunzi Mashalaba

(b. 1979, South Africa)

nomThunzi Mashalaba is a South African artist currently working and living in Johannesburg. She graduated with a B-Tech (Fine Arts) from Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria in 2006. nomThunzi's artistic practice resides in an interdisciplinary field with concerns that revolve around ideas of exploring deeper into personal stories. Throughout her career Mashalaba has worked in a range of disciplines, including painting, printmaking, sculpture, video and even performance – choosing whichever medium best conveys an experience or idea. Her works often archive collections of individuals and reinterpret personal notes, family photos and other forms of documentation into textured works of art. She uses delicate layering, vivid colour and seemingly random bits of text that add ambiguity and intrigue to her creations. She plays with fragility of memory and perception, her work always ambiguous, and unresolved, evading clear definition. The narration of the work is intended to go beyond its original basis to the unpredictable shaping of something that is simultaneously the present, past, personal and otherwise.

EDUCATION

2006       B-Tech (Fine Arts), Tshwane University of Technology, Tshwane, South Africa

2004       National Diploma in Fine Arts, Tshwane University of Technology, Tshwane, South Africa

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2018       me without my shadow, my shadow without me, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa

2014       Mamiya, Blank Projects, Cape Town, South Africa

              When Trees Meet Fire, Graskop, South Africa

2011       Kushukwa Intambo, Maclear, South Africa

2010       Square, Blank Projects, Cape Town, South Africa

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2019       Speculative Inquiry #1, Michaelis Galleries, Cape Town, South Africa

2018       Summer, Everard Read, London, UK

               Imbewu, Greatmore Studios, Cape Town, South Africa

2017       Cape Town Art Fair, Everard Read CIRCA Booth, Cape Town, South Africa

2014       Hawk, Hangklip Art Week, Cape Town, South Africa

              When Form Becomes Attitude, Blank Projects, Cape Town, South Africa

2013       Crossing Boundaries, Virginia Commonwealth Gallery, Ar-Rayyan, Qatar

2012       Hollard Art Exchange, Johannesburg, South Africa

               Alptraum, travelling drawing exhibition: Berlin, Los Angeles, Cape Town

               Matters Conceptual, Erdmann Contemporary, Cape Town, South Africa

               15.15, Kunst Macht Schule, Hamburg, Germany

2011       Black, the antithesis of fraudulent sensuality of cultures's facade. An experiment in voluntary asceticism,                    Blank Projects, Cape Town, South Africa

              Crossing Boundaries, VCUQ Gallery, Qatar

              Tusseorde en avontuur/between order and adventure, Artscape, Cape Town, South Africa

              Something to Write Home About, Greatmore Studios, Cape Town, South Africa

2010       Matters Conceptual, Erdmann Contemporary, Cape Town, South Africa

2009       Sasol New Signature merit award, Pretoria, South Africa

              Waste at Work, The Old Wine Cellar Gallery, Spier, Cape Town and Hollard, Johannesburg, South Africa

              Aardklop National Art Festival, Potchefstroom, South Africa

2006       Colour Blind performance, Aardklop Art Festival, Potchefstroom, South Africa

SELECTED PUBLIC INTERVENTIONS/SITE SPECIFIC PROJECTS

2007       Prince Alberta Art Festival, Prince Albert, South Africa

              Infecting the City, Cape Town, South Africa

RESIDENCES/EXCHANGE PROGRAMMES

2014       Progr, Bern, Switzerland

2011       Greatmore Studios, Cape Town, South Africa

2007       Greatmore Studios, Cape Town, South Africa

2006       Cultural Exchange Programme, Antananarivo, Madagascar