Defined Illusions 1

Title: Defined Illusions 1
Medium: Single colour lino cut
Paper size: 88 x 71 cm
Image size: 65 x 55 cm
Edition size: 7

With the linocuts, Mntambo decided to create a sense of movement whilst working in the static and restrictive process of cutting lino. “I was aiming to get the technique and outcome to loosen up a bit.” We think she has succeeded. Much of Mntambo’s work deals with cattle, whether shaping cowhide around a mould (originally made from her body), using cowhide as a tunic, stitching cow hair through paper, re-enacting bullfights (with a cowhide cape) or transforming herself into a bull. Mntambo references cattle through African, European and Asian beliefs and traditions, using her body as the anchoring point. These prints do and don’t move away from cattle, she explains: “The cattle work is always caught up in my body. Body is central, with these prints there is a shift away from the material but the core still remains. We all have a body but each is perceived differently, although bodies are essentially the same thing. The whole point for me is that we are all the same. It is more about finding a core, a core of sameness. Regardless of distances, time and geography, we all have things that make us so similar.” Nandipha Mntambo