South African multi-disciplinary artist Simphiwe Buthelezi utilises traditional Zulu ‘icansi’ (hand-woven reed mats), glass beads and ‘tankrali’ (Zulu seed beads), as well as seasand, seashells and metal oxides to engage with the existential undertaking of “ukubuyela e masisweni”, returning to the source. Reed mats, leather, beads, metal compounds and cotton canvas are carefully reworked, reconsidered and reshaped in order to retrieve their ethereal relationship with the earth. Through the labour of cutting, folding, sewing and bonding, Buthelezi explores her own ancestral history and notions of change and freedom; fragmentation and reconciliation; destruction and growth.

While the established conceptual threads of Buthelezi’s oeuvre begin in cultural dynamics and African spirituality, her practice is firmly grounded in a relentless exploration of materiality and form. For Buthelezi, these multifaceted, intergenerational objects are a continuation of what came before, and her practice of mending, reshaping, and nurturing ‘icansi’ and ‘tankrali’ acts as not only a practical exploration but also a spiritual interrogation of material and form. Here, thinking & making are entangled activities, a combination of Buthelezi’s understanding of materiality, underpinned by her sensitivity to the traditional roles and practices that have informed her artmaking.

Simphiwe Buthelezi was born in 1996 in Benoni, South Africa, and following her National Diploma in Fine Art from the University of Johannesburg in 2017, currently lives and works in Cape Town, South Africa. Buthelezi was the recipient of 2018 Blessing Ngobeni Art Prize, culminating in a residency at The Bag Factory Artist Studios.

In 2024 Buthelezi’s work was included in Codes in Parallel at the Indian Ocean Craft Triennial in Western Australia and a three person presentation at Art Basel Hong Kong. Buthelezi also presented Scenes in Dreams, a solo show at SMAC in Cape Town, South Africa.

Other solo presentations include Izinyathelo Zabagcotshiweyo (Footsteps of the Ordained) as part of the Galeries Émergentes Sector at Paris+ par Art Basel in Paris, France and Izwe liyaphenduka (The World Turns) as part of the Solo Section at the Investec Cape Town Art Fair in Cape Town, South Africa, both in 2023; Imvuselelo Yenkululeko / Freedom’s Domain at SMAC in Stellenbosch, South Africa, in 2020 and ‘Lala La’, curated by Chumisa Ndakisa, at The Bag Factory Studios in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2019. Further group exhibitions include: Shaping Things: An exploration of clay and ceramics in contemporary South African art practice, at SMAC Gallery in Stellenbosch, South Africa in 2020 and the Young Congo Biennale in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in 2019.

In 2025, Buthelezi’s work will form part of BA’ZINZILE: A Rehearsal for Breathing at the Stellenbosch Triennale in Stellenbosch, South Africa.