THANDO NTOBELA

South African artist Thando Ntobela comes from a strong artistic lineage of abstracting the universe with beads. Beading has been a source for artistic creative expression in Africa for centuries, yet it largely remains unrecognized and under-celebrated in art exhibitions and galleries. An art form associated with women in both Africa and Native America, abstraction in beads has yet to be acknowledged and respected in the same way as EuroAmerican painting and sculpture. 

Ntobela confidently affirms her place within abstraction by stitching beads onto canvas, a foundation often reserved for painting, the medium that has largely defined abstraction in Western art worlds. Like abstract painters, Ntobela uses abstraction for personal expression and in relation to her aesthetic canon and history. Her artistic process—the act of beading itself— is filled with layers of meaning and emotion. Thoughts and feelings are woven onto the canvas through the movement of thread and bead; the finished piece is the culmination of stitching these ideas and sentiments together.