Xanthe Somers’s large-scale sculptures explore Zimbabwean postcolonial culture
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- 04 Apr 2023
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Born and raised in Harare, Zimbabwe, Xanthe Somers majored in printmaking, specialising in etching and screen prints during her Fine Art studies at Michaelis, UCT in Cape Town, South Africa.
Now she is a self-taught ceramicist exploring memory discourse, inspired by the Zimbabwean postcolonial culture, drawing international attention for her displayed works at Collect Art Fair in London, presented by Galerie Revel.
Somers creates sizeable vessels that take on an allegorical meaning, revealing the political semantics of everyday objects. The looping shapes, bright colours and intricate craftsmanship develop a sense of play and a ‘happy’ aesthetic. While a closer inspection of the text on the works and the titles—such as Like Stale Bread After a Hard Day’s Work or Don’t Do It with the recognizable sports brand logo—immediately urge the viewer into analytical thought.
Incorporating traditional Zimbabwean crafts into her works, Somers uses pipe maize, golden lustre, fabric, and a hose pipe to create the loops, flowers and almost animated-looking accents of her dynamic sculptural designs. Grouped on a platform in the middle of the Galerie Revel booth at the Collect Fair, these vessel sculptures appear to interrogate “the colonial ghosts and systematic repressions still apparent in society,” as the artist explains it.
STIR interviews Somers, in an attempt to delve into her practice, creative process and the meaning behind it all.
Zeynep Rekkali Jensen: Could you tell us about your background and journey?
Xanthe Somers: My practice explores my history as a white Zimbabwean and the generational passing down of prejudices, which remain oppressive. I grew up in Harare, leaving to study at the Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town. I was then awarded a grant to study MA Postcolonial Culture at Goldsmiths, University of London, which I completed with distinction. My master’s programme was purely theoretical, but I began using clay as a way to understand my learnings, and in turn, my ceramic sculptures became vessels for stories on the colonial legacy. I combine age-old Zimbabwean traditions and techniques into my hand-built ceramic sculptures, such as weaving, soapstone sculpting, and fabric, in combination with new materials and social commentary, as a way of reflecting on the fraught relationship between the past and present. Read More…
