ARCHIVE: Reconstructing Memory: The Textual Landscapes of Lehlohonolo Mashaba

Lehlohonolo Mashaba’s self-taught role as a creative linguist provides him with a platform to address major social and economic issues under profound public scrutiny. He uses recorded text from his memory, simple message service (SMS), and cuts out pieces of text from printed sources to convey concerns that affect him both directly and indirectly. "Art has to create a dialogue where an artist explores their political and social views for the audience to relate to or understand the world through the artist's creative eye," says Mashaba.

Self Identity Specimen

His artwork evokes both aesthetic and non-aesthetic associations with the society we live in. The experimentation and exploration of his creative process focus on intimate spaces and landscapes, using excerpts of found text that relate to invented or constructed spaces. "I don’t like the idea of throwing away my old works. My drawer doesn’t discard my sketches," he notes, reflecting his approach that includes a variety of sources, including past rejected artworks. As a narrator, creator, and artistic individual, he uses landscapes that are dreamt, imagined, or written into existence, and in some cases, physically reconstructed from a history he has witnessed.

He captures a depth of meaning from conversations he overhears or participates in and transforms them into actual artwork. This enables him to subtly shift meanings to introduce an interaction between the creative work and social cohesion. As he shifts and remounts text in his work, the themes of emptiness and absence are recurring, settling at the heart of his creations. "I love recycling. It gives new life and meaning to discarded things," Mashaba emphasises.

His use and integration of recyclable materials enhance his ability to conceptualise ideas around social commentary through art. There is a fragmented wordplay that fascinates Mashaba. "We as human beings are the products of what exists around us." He uses crossword puzzles to draw and construct his human figures.

Mashaba challenges and subverts the way social narratives are constructed. His viewers play an important role as they attempt to comprehend and understand the intricate interplay of text in each work. By viewing his work with dedication and seriousness, the audience allows the creative act to come full circle and facilitates the digestion of the works. "I like looking at grey areas. In life, you can’t really define things completely. The more abstract it is, the more uncertain it becomes."

Beyond the value of details, the beauty of form, the grandeur of expression, and the intimacy of sentiment, it is impressive to consider his work as both poetry and literature on the flat surface of paper, whether printed or embossed by the printing press. Mashaba’s work possesses a sense of universality. His creations are a comprehensive repertoire of contemporary life, especially in its civilised form. "With recent technological inventions, it is easy to keep a record of what has been said, even if it is on a small scale like cell phone text. One can keep and record conversations with numerous people. They become embedded in history and serve as reminders," says Mashaba.

In his work titled ‘Infomart 2,’ he presents a portrait that recalls his childhood memories or school days, with the randomness of text providing rhythm, form, and contrast to the actual portrait. With his phenomenal good humour and the eccentricities of his method, he stands out through the sharpness of his mind and hand.

Text by: Khehla Chepape Makgato  

Date: 29/08/2011, Newtown, Jhb