Itulo

During the course of his career, artist Nicholas Hlobo has developed a distinctive body of work stitching and weaving together disparate materials such as ribbon, rubber , gauze and leather to create seductively tactile sculptures and drawings. His works are richly layered, anchored in references to Xhosa culture and the experience of life in post-apartheid South Africa , while reflecting upon themes of language and communication as well as gender and sexuality. The stitches in Itulo are denser and more chaotic, emanating from a large piece of black rubber that has been integrated into the center of the work. Piercing the surface of the paper , the individual stitches cross and tangle at points but remain connected to the central body, which looks like the empty skin of a creature that has departed. Itulo is a long wooden needle used when thatching a house. Here Itulo reminds us of the needle used to make the stitches in the paper, but it is also meant as a metaphor for the act of lovemaking. From Kerryn Greenberg, " Nicholas Hlobo ," in Wild is the Wind (exhibition catalog). Savannah College of Art and Design, 2010.