Ngwana Mobu performing Mchezo wa ukombozi

The unspoken oeuvre

I chose to talk about mental health and art because as a black child, mental health is stigmatized and topics surrounding it are not necessarily supported or spoken about as much as they should. Mainly because the black society have their own ideologies regarding mental health issues, it is seen as being weak and feeling sorry for yourself rather than growing thick skin and dealing with problems head on. My cultural disposition shouted Black people are strong and we can endure anything. Which I believe is ignorance.

My artwork mainly focuses on the healing process and how you have a lot of different days; some are good and some not so good. In my opinion, being creative can help with those “not so good days”. It becomes a form of releasing what you feel inside, turning it into something thoroughly beautiful. It is using your paintbrush and acrylics as a mouthpiece to the world, when you feel your voice cannot express things for you, which is why my work consists of only two art forms (visual art and music) it’s amazing how i always find songs with lyrics that describe exactly how I feel.

Oeuvre is defined as a body of work of a painter, composer, or author. I find the word “oeuvre” fitting to describe my work because not only is it painted but each and every one of my paintings is inspired by a song.

My artwork consists of eight self-portraits and one sculpture as the middle centre piece. All of these portraits are painted in different art styles and consist of images of me in different states of feeling. The sculpture is a person portraying me reaching out of a wall, this represents the forming of a “new me” who is busy crawling out as a healed person.

Healing is the process of trying to restore health again, I highlight the word “process” because essentially it means that it does not happen overnight, it is something that takes a lot of time to reach, hence the different emotions to emphasize one’s experiences during their healing process.

A quote by Erykah Badu that I take dearly to heart says “Be you, make sure you’re saying something when you saying something, it is important to sound like you, feel like you and be like you, BE YOU!” Taking her words into account I incorporated ME in my artworks, I sent out a message that its ohk to go through all the pain, heartache and sadness, it’s a process, it doesn’t mean I’m weak, but it is what makes me human. Authentically myself.

In essence what I am communicating with my art is that one does not have to say anything to express oneself.

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