Hinterlands of Devotion V

Title: Hinterlands of Devotion V
Medium: Five colour lithograph
Paper size: 57 x 76.5 cm
Image size: 57 x 76.5 cm
Edition size: 22

The title of the series Hinterlands of Devotion provides a key to understanding the work. The forms in the prints are inspired by a close-up and intimate focus on body parts that then evolve into a sense of large-scale figures. The layering of the inks helped the idea of depth, the layers reflecting the physical structure of skin. Mntambo investigates three-dimensionality within a flat plane. The titles evoke a sense of geography, memory and forgotten underdeveloped space. The colonial concept of “on the border of nowhere,” intrigues Mntambo. Ports were placed at the entrance to nowhere, for received goods from far away, unknown places. These correlate with the contours of the body, our borders of physical space. What lies below and beneath the skin? We are all part of our bodies and yet do not really know or understand them. And yet there is a level of devotion; to the craft, the process of doing, devotion to health, devotion to feeling. We all make choices and are committed to them.

“Lithography is a whole new thing, I just enjoyed playing, experimenting and not being too precious. Bringing in colour adds a new dimension.” Nandipha Mntambo