FNB Art Prize 2014 – Portia Zvavahera

JAF: Why did you become an artist?

PZ: I had a passion for drawing when I was in school. I loved art more than any other subject. I didn’t know that I could do it as a career. When I discovered the school of art, I knew it was what I wanted to do.

JAF: Who have you been most inspired by in your career?

PZ: I’m most inspired by Jean- Michel Basquiat and Gustav Klimt. I loved the pattern and use of organic circles that Klimpt used.

JAF: What is the significance of your dreams in the work you make?

PZ: I’m mostly inspired by my dreams. When I have a dream, a nightmare or something, I usually forget it so I have to write it down and the dream itself becomes my personal diary. Documenting them becomes a history making process. It is also sort of a healing process, when I translate what I’ve written on paper with paint on canvas.

JAF: How do you hope your work will speak to your audience?

PZ: It is a platform for people to engage with the healing process. It is always interesting to see how people relate on a personal level to the work. One person after seeing one of my paintings (Ndakavhumbamira, 2014 see: http://www.stevenson.info/exhibitions/zvavahera/ndakavhumbamira.html) spoke of how the painting moved him. He was away from his family and the painting made him feel closer, like he was holding them.

JAF: What does the medium of painting add to your process?

PZ: I don’t really like writing about my dreams. I prefer to transfer the image from my dreams into a painting. I see colour everywhere, I love colour and paint more than other media. I feel colour translates best through paint.

JAF: What’s next for you?

PZ: I’m constantly searching. I’ll never stop searching for new ideas. What comes next is a product of that ongoing search.

Gallery