The painting I made, titled “Piano Recital,” represents my first piano recital in Spearfish, SD. I wanted to use this memory for my painting because I got to experience playing in front of new people, and seeing my teacher in person. To change this memory so that it is in a style similar to Ndebele visual traditions, I added colorful shapes to the stage, and made the character sitting at the piano all black with lines across its head. I also simplified the piano so that it has more geometrical shapes such a squares and rectangles.  

An important choice I made while constructing my framework was adding the triangles on the top of the frame. The triangles pointing down represent the struggles I had while practicing, and the nervous feeling I had before I was about to preform. The triangle pointing upward in the center, represents  the accomplishment and happiness I had after I finished. I used only one triangle pointing upward to show this was the one big moment I had to show the work I put into on playing my song. I used thicker and bolder lines around the frame, to show the importance of this.  

One way Dr. Esther Mahlangu’s art work influenced my painting was the way she uses shapes in almost everything in her paintings. This inspired me to use shapes in the stage, piano, and frame. Analyzing her artwork and creating a painting like her, allowed me to think about my memory in a deeper way. It also taught me how to use simple things, like shapes, and connect them to my life.  

My piece, titled “Church Camp,” explores a memory I just recently had of when I was at Church Camp 2026. The diamonds on the side represent the amount of growth I made in the Lord. The cross in the middle represents the camp. The bible represents reading the bible at camp. The house represents the chapel where we did most of our dancing, singing, and games. The volleyball, net, and people represent the games we played during free time. The triangles at the top and bottom represent the family I made at camp. Lastly, the dark colors represent the sad and rainy times and the bright colors represent all the fun and joyful times I had.  

One important choice I made when building the geometric framework was choosing the colors because they were both bright and dark. I used the dark colors to create the rainy days and the sad but happy moments I had went through. That helped me show what had actually happened and what I enjoyed. One choice I made with the shapes was making them more like a church camp. This affected my art work by showing others what it was really about, and what I was drawing about.  

I connected something I noticed in Mahlangu’s work to my own piece by adding a lot of the same shapes. I also added a lot of color, just like some of her projects do. I made my people look like some of the people in her art work. I added many shaped in my artwork like Mahlangu’s work. The bright colors I had matched some of her art pieces.  

My art piece is titled “The Birthday.” The painting stands for my 11th birthday. I spent the day at the Mall of America with my mom and cousin. The bags that we are holding in the painting represent the shopping bags that we used when we bought something. There are triangles on the bags that represents our relationship as a family. Second, the building s in the background represents the stores and shops we went to. With the the zigzags standing for our highs and lows; as for we live in different states and so we don’t see each other often. 

One important choice I made when using the geometric framework was on the border, I used triangles to show how we love each other and care for each other as a family. For the top row of triangles, I used lighter colors for the happy times we had as a family. While on the bottom I used darker colors for the harder times we had as a family.  

Esther Mahlangu’s art made me realize that you can use simple shapes to represent family or hardships. I combined my personal memory with using shapes and favorite colors to make it “come to life.” Because of this, I can express past experiences that happened in my life. 

My piece “The First Catch” shows one of my most important memories. It shows me and my dad playing catch. It was my first time throwing a football. This one moment led to me becoming obsessed with the game. Now, football occupies a lot of my life and is one of the things I look forward to everyday. One motif that is very important in my artwork is the Straight bold line at the bottom of the paper; This represents family because I am playing catch with my dad. The triangles of the house also represent family. The football is an important motif because its one of my favorite things to do now.  

An important choice I made designing the frame of the artwork was to include triangles and diamonds. I included diamonds on the top border of the artwork because it represents a milestone; it was my first time doing something I fell in love later in my life. I used a ruler to evenly space and make straight lines for the borders and shapes. One choice I made with color, line, or value was that I made the border lines very bold and think to represent family.  

One thing Esther Malangu’s artwork taught me is that you can include a story and feelings into artwork just by writing shapes and lines. I included shapes and lines that represent certain things from her artwork in mine. I tried to tell a story through the shapes and also central panel. 

The title of my piece is called, “A night with the Minnesota Lynx.” This memory is from a few years ago when I went to a WNBA game with my aunt and her boys, husband, lots of their friends, and my sister. We got to give high fives to the players as they went onto the court which was such an amazing experience. To translate this memory into my own art I drew triangles with represent home and culture within their team. This is important to me because as a previous basketball player, I know how important family is, which is represented by the slight zigzags and the triangles, yet again. Another motif I conveyed in my art piece was the colors which are soothing, but they are also very important because they are the team colors.  

One important choice I made while constructing my framework was to make it relate to the basketball theme. I wanted to have the two longer rectangles going horizontal to represent how the side lines are longer than the base lines, represented by the shorter rectangles. One choice I made with lines and color was to make it simple, but appealing to the eye. A viewer can look at my piece and imagine anything they want, but they will not know the full story without asking me, the artist. This affected my artwork by really tying in the team colors, culture, and players into my piece. The color was important when it came to the players because the twins are the only two with pink colored hair in the WNBA.  

One way Dr. Esther Mahlangu’s work influenced my own artwork was by encouraging me to think outside of my normal, comfortable art ideas. I forced myself to think past what I am used to and really think deeply into how I wanted each rectangle to be filled and what shapes I wanted to have in each one too. I connected something I noticed in Mahlangu’s work to my own piece by including symmetry and shapes like she does. It helped me to think differently as I formed my full thinking into my piece. “A night with the Minnesota Lynx,”  was something I will always think of now when I do geometric art or symmetrical art pieces.  

The title of my art piece is called: “Dome 2024”. This childhood memory represents the Sully Buttes Chargers winning state football in 2024. In 2024 I was a sophomore and a 2-year starter on the football team. I got a lot of playing time and the team has worked their butts off for this opportunity. I used the triangles in my drawing to represent the steps you take in football to become good and achieve your goals. I also represented the care for one another with diamonds; as we are a team and we care for everyone and push everyone that is on the team to hold them to their standards. 

In my art piece I went with the standard purple and gold for the Chargers. Everything in the middle of my art piece is in standard color and means something to people who were on the 2024 football team. On the outside frame of my art piece, I used many colorful colors to represent that the team was bright and fun. With my triangles, there are zigzags in the middle to also represent the winding path we had that year. We would go up and down during the regular season and it showed but once it hit playoff, we put everything we had into it and succeeded in the end.  

What I learned from Dr. Esther Mahlangu is that we can express memories from our life onto paper with colors and it shows so much more meaning then people really think. One of her art works is about a village and a lot of people and animals; that art piece influenced me to draw about the dome. It influences me because there were a lot of people which meant to me that the team was together succeeding. I learned that combining my personal memory and structured geometrics can lead to a cool art piece that can mean something more to you than just the memory. 

My piece titled Dart Soars, explores my love for darts and how much fun I have while playing. I put a dart board because it is the main object when playing darts. I put darts because you need darts to play darts. My Malangu-style art piece is one of my favorite art pieces so far. I used squares to represent stepping-stones I’ve made while playing darts and triangles to represent family, because my family has gotten me into playing darts and i throw darts with them all the time. 

For the geometric framework I used a ruler to make the border. For my colors I used red, black, green, and white. I used those colors because it is the main colors of a dart board, and I think they look cool. Black, white, and red are a few of my favorite colors. For the value I just painted the squares and triangles then second coated it. 

The connection between what I learned from Esther and the choices I made, triangles because its family and I play darts with my family. I chose squares because they represent steppingstones and I made a lot of steppingstones while playing darts and learned good sportsmanship. If I could do this project again I would. I loved doing this project. 

The title of my work is “My Sister’s Wedding.” A little over a year ago, my older sister Shalie got married and I was a bridesmaid. One motif that is I used is diamonds. It represents growth. Another motif that I used is lightning bolts. They symbolize new beginnings. I put a diamond in the cross and lightning bolts on the bride and groom.  

In my geometric framework, I used triangles and diamonds to to symbolize growth and family. I used a ruler to make my borders and ensure that my lines were straight. I used colors like green, pink, blue, and yellow. They showed the emotion of the moment like happiness and joy. I used watercolor to create those colors. 

Dr. Esther Mahlangu taught me that shapes in art can mean a lot more than they seem. I chose shapes like lightning bolts and triangles to show different feelings. I learned different art meanings and how to use them. She influenced me to make deeper art rather than surface art. She also showed me that using bright colors can show more emotion.  

My piece, titled “Bike,” explores a childhood memory of me learning how to ride a bike. One motif that is especially important to my piece is my bike.  I needed it to learn how to ride the bike. Another motif that is important is my dad. He was the one to teach me how to ride a bike.  

One important choice I made when building the geometric frame was to add a pattern and make sure the two boarders were symmetrical. It made my artwork look a lot better. I used triangles because it stands for family. I chose this shape because it was my dad who was teaching me how to ride a bike. Another important shape I added were the diamonds stand for growth. I chose this shape because I am growing up and learning a new skill. Important colors I chose were yellow and pink because they remind me of happiness.  

One way Dr. Esther Mahlangu work influenced my own artwork was including the shapes in my boarders and making my art simple. I learned that geometric shapes can also stand for something, not just colors. Combining a personal memory with a structured geometry made me think differently about how I will view art.  

My piece, titled Waves, explores the childhood memory of when I nearly drowned in a wave when I was 3. To translate this memory into stylized motifs inspired by Ndebele visual traditions, I changed mine and my mom’s skin color to black. Another stylized motif I used was the use of simplified backgrounds. One motif that is especially important in my piece is the umbrella, which I used to symbolize safety, and my mom’s willingness to get out of her safe zone, to help me. 

An important choice I made in constructing my geometric framework was to use a ruler while making the waves because I wanted to emphasize the chaos I felt while inside of the wave, while also symbolizing the growth I experienced overcoming the incident. I used sharp angles to create the sun, which helped me make the sky as chaotic as the water beneath. One choice I made with line is that the beach, and everything on the beach, are the only things in the artwork to have curves. This is to show that if I never made it land, I would never have had peace. One choice I made with the color is to make my mom’s swimsuit red, signifying the guilt she would have felt if she didn’t save me. 

One way Dr. Esther Mahlangu’s work influenced my artwork was, the way she drew people was very simplified, which inspired me to make my people equally simple. I connected something I noticed in Mahlangu’s work to my own piece by using thick lines on my borders, making the entire artwork pop. Combining a personal memory with structured geometry made me think differently about how I perceive my memories and makes me wonder if anyone remembers things in a different way than I do. For me, when I remember something, it’s like a glimpse of a dream, but for someone else, it could be a stylized version of events that happened. 

I have made a lot of childhood memories throughout my life. One of the most memorable is the time I got locked into a dog kennel. Therefore, I’m calling this work “The Kennel.”  My older brother decided to lock my brother and I in a dog kennel. He then proceeded to taunt us because we were locked in the kennel. In the piece I put me, my brother, my dog, and my older brother. All of us are around the kennel the main detail in this piece. This is the main detail because it represents the challenges and difficulties I had to overcome and learn from. 

I used certain types of lines shape and contrast to represent specific things. I used lots of zigzags to represent how much energy is in this memory. We were very loud and angry throughout the time we were in the kennel. Therefore, there were lots of energy put into this piece. I also used triangles. These triangles represent growth and development. I grew that day. I realized some people were going to be mean. I also learned never willingly crawl into a dog kennel. 

One connection I learned from Esther Mahlangu is that you can use colors and shapes to tell stories. I used colors and shapes to tell my stories. As a result, I used rainbow colors to show all the emotions I went through. I also use lots of red to express my anger and hate towards my older brother. I learned there are more than just one way to express and show how you feel throughout a story by using shapes and colors. Connecting my personal story to the geometrical shapes really shows how art can be anything you want it to be.   

The title of my work is “The First Shot.” This represents my childhood memory of me killing my first buck with a bow and arrow. To translate this memory into stylized motifs inspired by Ndebele visual traditions, I changed the sunflowers in zig zags to brighten up the painting and show energy and life. One motif that is especially important in my piece is the color orange and red. It is especially important because they are my favorite colors. Another motif in my painting is my bow and arrow. I have a lot of money into my bow and love to shoot it in my free time.  

One important choice I made when building the geometric framework was the triangles because it represents my path and steps of hunting. I used rulers to create triangles and zigzags so everything on my paper would be symmetrical. My project has very many repeated forms and colors that create patterns. One choice I made with color was to use my 5 favorite colors and use them throughout the whole project. Another choice I made with line was double spaced lines. This affects my work by showing different patterns and showing different meaning than usual one line spacing. 

One way Dr. Esther Mahlangu’s wok influenced my own artwork was using bold black outlines to separate the vibrant field of color. I connected this to my own piece by using sharpie to separate the colors and not allow them to bleed together. Combining my personal memory with geometric shapes in my project showed me that shapes have lots of deep-down meaning. Using the shapes made my story personal and meaningful. In this project I learned a lot about shapes in art and how they show emotions. 

There are many thing I remember from my childhood but one stands out from the others. The memories that stand out from the others is when my family and I go out to the black hills and stay out at our cabin. Almost every time we went to our cabin, we would go hiking usually it was Devil's Bathtub. That is why I have a cabin and a waterfall in my artwork. That represents the memory of me and my family going to my cabin and going hiking in the Black Hills. This is why my artwork is named The Hills.  

That dose not describe my whole art piece the geometric framework helps to show what my art means. The triangles represent me moving forward in life and me and my family growing up. The diamonds represent a loving home, family unity, and caring for one another. The colors in my art represent how I felt in theses moments in my life. That’s why the geometric framework and color is important.  

Her use of geometric shapes and colors help me realize how important art can be. Me making art about my life when I was a kid made me realize how important it was. Combining a personal memory with geometric shapes, made me think differently. I realized how I might take things for granted because I miss those moments. That is why this it’s important to me. 

My piece is of me and my animals back when we still had some. The truck represents my father. The cow represents my time showing cattle. And all the sheep represent the sheep I show every year. 

The color choice on the cow is red cause I showed red angus. I chose purple and yellow cause there our team colors. The truck is white cause we owned a white truck. 

 Dr Esther Mahlangu influenced my work because it was an assignment to make our painting look like her work. I really don’t have any other reason for my art to look like hers. 

My piece, titled “Sweet 16” explores a childhood memory of when we beat Dupree to go to state. The central panel shows the final score of the game 42-40. It also shows the basketball court with me playing against Dupree. One motif that is especially important in my piece is the squares because it represents the court and the scoreboard shows the balance and stability of the game. The lines of the court also carry significant meaning for the game of basketball. 

One important choice I made when building the geographic framework was triangles because it shows the stability of the special memory. I will remember this memory keeping the special day through many pictures and now this art piece. I used a ruler to create the triangles of the framework, which helped me accurately make equivalent triangles. One choice I made with color was choosing Purple, Gold, and Orange. This affected my artwork by signifying our school colors as well as orange the color of a basketball. 

One way Dr. Ester Mahlangu’s work influenced my own artwork was helping me understand the importance of the frame. Combining my special memory with structured geometry made me think differently about the memory. I will never forget that memory, but this artwork will allow me to deeply remember the importance of that special day. I enjoyed learning about a new culture and how different shapes can mean different things. Connecting my piece to the South African culture helped me put my memory with their culture.

The title of my piece is called “Family Time.” This piece resembles a memory of a family reunion in Yankton. During this family reunion we had fun seeing people in our family that we do not see often. In my piece I drew hotel rooms, a river, a picnic table, and people. To make my drawing geometrical like Esther Mahlangu’s pieces, I made the river in a trapezoid shape. I also decorated the buildings with triangles and colored in my people to make it look like her art style. The people in my painting are especially important because they stand for my family at the family reunion.  

One important choice I made when doing the frame around my artwork was using bold lines. Esther uses lots of theses in her artwork and they represent strength and unity. When our family comes together are stronger and support one another. Using black lines also helped make my artwork look sharper and covered up some of the spots where I accidentally painted outside the lines. Using a ruler helped me a lot in this piece. When sketching I had to make exact, straight lines, to be geometrical like Esther’s artwork.  

Dr. Esther’s people in her pieces inspired me on how I drew the people in my piece. I colored them in with black and then added colorful pants to a couple of them. Esther’s artwork has lots of meaning to it. I connect this with my piece, because my piece stands for a special and fun time with my family. When I added geometric shapes to my memory painting, it taught me that there are many ways to represent a special time in my life.  

The title of my work is the First Fish the childhood memory I drew was of me catching a fish for the first time with my dad. I did this because it was a fond memory that I felt could be made to suit the artist’s style that I was mimicking. I simplified this memory by only illustrating key points like me, my dad, and the fish I caught. I used zigzags, unique shapes and bold lines as 3 motifs in my design. I did this because the zigzags represent the ups and downs of catching my first fish from missing some fish to setting the hook. In addition, I used the bold line to represent the pride I felt after finally catching my first fish  

An important choice I had to make in constructing the framework was deciding the motifs to use. This is because there were many different emotions during this memory, so this made it hard to choose one design. During the creation I used a ruler to measure and make it symmetrical this was a crucial step to make sure the piece came out as desired. The only repeating form I used was zigzags these are the two main things that let me start the creation of my work. The important color choice I made was choosing bright colors that work together to make the painting stand out and grab attention. 

The connection between me and Esther’s art was I could somewhat see how she felt and thought while creating hers. This is because I had to copy her style and this allowed me to experience a similar process as Esther. One choice I made because of studying Esthers work was making the people in my artwork completely black I did this to copy hers. From this project I learned that depending on where you are the art styles can be extremely different containing barely any similarities to ones you are used too. 

My piece, titled “The Disney House,” explores a childhood memory of my family and I going on a trip to Orlando, Florida. The house we stayed at had all Disney themed rooms and a pool and hot tub in the backyard. To translate this memory into stylized motifs inspired by Ndebele visual traditions, I changed lines into rain to represent how it always rained in Florida.  

One important choice I made when building the geometric framework was to add diamonds because diamonds mean family and I was surrounded by family the whole time. One choice I made color, line, and value was to add bright colors to show the happiness and sunny weather.  An effect that choice made on my finished work was that the bright colors showed the happy feel of that trip. 

One way Dr. Esther Mahlangu’s work influenced my own artwork was that I changed the outside of the house into a colorful and geometric pattern. I added diamonds and colorful squares like she does in her paintings. Combining a personal memory with structured geometry made me think differently about how hard it must be to make sure all your lines and strait and perfect. 

My piece, titled “The Lemmon Dilemma,” explores a more recent memory of me and my cousins' picking lemons. When in Arizona, me and my cousins Josie, Justice, and Adrian were at a church. By the church there was a fence where a Lemmon tree was hanging over it, so we picked some of the fruit. The dilemma was, we were not allowed to bring the lemons home with us; when going through airport security, they made us throw away the lemons. By using stylized motifs inspired by Ndebele visual traditions, I used diamonds to represent lemons and her style of people to show my cousins and I. One design that is important to my piece is the box like Lemmon tree because this tree that was hanging over the fence is what tempted me and my cousins to pick the lemons. 

One important choice I made when building the geometric framework was triangles outlining the frame because it shows that since that day, there have been lots of ups and downs. By using rulers, I was able to create uniform large triangles to show the major changes since this event. I also used bold lines on the outside of the frame to show the bold connection we felt for each other that day, because we spent the whole weekend together. I also used purple to represent Josie and justice; their birthday was the day before, and it is their favorite color. 

One way Dr. Esther Mahlangu’s work influenced my artwork was by putting meaning behind what I painted on my piece. When making my frame I put meaning behind the shapes, which I otherwise would not have done. But by adding my own touches and ideas, I was able to represent the weekend by adding purple in the frame. From combining my memory with the structured geometric approach, I was able to display the memory along with other deeper meanings that are shown through the shapes scattered across the paper.

The title to this piece is called, “Drum Major”. This memory translates to when I auditioned for being the leader in marching band. It was a very exciting moment in my time here on earth. It taught me how to be patient, and how to represent my best that I can do. I changed the regular background to shapes and zigzags to represent the excitement.  One motif that is important is the zigzags; it represents the ups and downs leading to that specific point in time. 

When making the geometric framework, I made an odd shape to represent happiness and excitement. When using the ruler to create even lines, it wasn’t perfect, and that shows that no matter what we do we can’t be perfect. I repeated the zigzags on the bottom, because it represents ups and downs. It shows that even though I went through ups and downs that the hard work paid off. In this piece, I used purple and gold, because it represents the Charger colors and where my pride comes from, my drive to do things. 

I learned from Dr. Esther Mahlangu, that shapes can represent, feelings, emotions, events, and people. I connected my piece to hers, because she uses it to create memories and times of the past that could have been memorial, hard or easy times. I can see that in her pieces you can tell what she is explaining. In my art you can also see the amount of story behind it and kind of take, a logical guess about what its about. This is why I can relate my personal artwork to her style. This is also why I can understand the style in which she chooses.  

My piece, titled “It’s A Wonderful Life,” dives into one of my favorite childhood memories. It was Christmas Eve; I was in 4th grade when my parents first showed a movie called “It’s A Wonderful Life.” In my piece, I have triangle in my piece stand for the unity and bonding my family went through. I also added zigzags; this is the difficulties that the main character faces in the moves, which in turn, make the viewer stressed or worried. 

When I was making my frame, I paid attention to the spaces and their meanings. I tried to have every part of my frame a line with the main idea. I made sure that I measured everything properly and that if I doubled anything, it would be even on both sides. The color didn’t have a huge meaning, but the placement of the shapes has a big meaning.  

The clothing Esther Mahlangu uses in their painting is what I used to influence the clothing in my artwork. It inspired me to use certain shapes and colors for each person so that everyone was a little different but similar at the same time. I noticed that even the smallest thing in my art, could mean something completely different in someone else’s point of view.  

My African art piece titled “The Big Surprise” is about me making it to All State Orchestra after only playing for one year. One motif that is important to my painting is when my mom is handing me the piece of paper because it stands for how important my mom is to me. This memory is important to me because it shows the bond between me and my mom when she hands over the piece of paper. 

Geometric framing I chose for my painting is the diamonds in the border of the frame. This represents the bond between me and my mom after she gave me the paper. After putting the triangles on my painting, I realized that that even though we don’t have wealth, we still have each other. She still supports me through everything and supports me through my Challenges during all state. The lines that I outlined the border in the painting helped me represent the purity between me and my viola. 

Combining a personal memory with geometrical shapes made me realize that using different shapes helps me represent the good times and the difficulties between my mom, me, and All State Orchestra. 

The title of my piece is called The Tug. It is a childhood memory of me and my dog playing tug of war when he was a puppy. I chose squares to show that my dog is considered family. One shape that is important to my piece is the triangle because it shows the connection between me and my dog. 

The important choice I made for my geometric framework is measuring correctly. As well as choosing the right amount of squares and triangles for my piece. I divide it after I measured it and started drawing. One color choice I made was that I decided to make it random to keep it interesting.  

I added a headband to myself and added the frame borders. One connection that I did like her was make the colors random. My memory with the geometry made me think of how much effort goes into each painting. As well as not eve using a ruler or anything too help measure. 

My art title is “Proud Moment” is a memory that I never thought I could complete. I won state art my second year of doing this. When I saw a yellow paper on my art, I knew that I did what I always wanted to happen. In my artwork for this month’s artist, I put a lot of zigzags and triangles. The zigzags stand for handwork, and how I had a lot of difficulties during this moment. 

My format was decided to be a lot of zigzags and very bright colors. I did this for the reason to make it look like art can be up and down during the process. Although this moment is what makes my journey in future bright. The symmetry in my artwork is what keeps all my art in one piece showing how winning state is a powerful memory.  

Mahlangu artwork tells a story of how her childhood affected her life with how she has been treated. I find her artwork very interesting with all different shapes representing different emotions. This affected my own artwork by explaining a pound moment in a different style of art. I felt like most of this piece was to show us that our way of art is all cultural and storytelling.  

The title of my art project is, “Before School Trip.” It is a memory of a trip I went on before the school year started. I used the same art style as Esther Mahlangu. I used many straight lines to create triangles, rectangles, squares. One motif that is especially important in my pieces is how I used little to no color to creat the buildings and the car. I did this because it gives me more creative control to mix and match patterns.  

While creating my shapes I used a ruler to guild me. Though it kept moving it by accident, I finally got my lines to be straight. Most of the shapes I used were not very thought out. I mainly just added lines the felt right and they ended up giving interesting designs. For my fame I created a stencil to help show the difficulties in life. The ups and downs.  

I learned fro Dr. Esther Mahlangu that your artwork does not have to hold loads of detail to be beautiful. Learning that she did not use a ruler to create her almost perfect lines shocked me. Her art is so impressive. The way she is used her colors helps to show the emotions in her projects. Combining a personal memory with structured geometry made me think differently about how detailed an art piece needs to be in order to send emotion and stories to the viewers. 

The title of my artwork is The Horse. The Horse explores my childhood as it was the first time I rode a horse.  The first time I rode a horse was on the farm I grew up on, I was four at the time. The Horse's name is lady, and she was the only horse that would let me ride her, she was slow with me on her back. Lady died about five years later. 

The importance of the shapes is extremely important so I will break it down slowly. The triangles represent the change and progress’s as I learnt and grew. The squares have no meaning  they are just there as building blocks. The zigzags represent happiness as I am glad I got to ride lady that day. The circles only represent the farm that day.

One way Dr. Esther Mahlangu’s work influenced my own artwork is via the art style. I took inspiration from her art style to my own art piece. I noticed her art is colorful while most of my art pieces are in black and white. I decided to start coloring my pieces instead of leaving them black and white. I did not choose the colors for a specific reason. 

There are many things I remember from my childhood. One of which is when I got my first chickens. When I was 7 years old, I got my first chickens. I remember the day like it was yesterday, I was sitting in school. I got called to the office and my dad was sitting there. We walked outside and he told me he had a surprise for me. I got in his pickup and we drove to my house. When we got their, I looked up and saw a chicken coop! I was so excited I gave my dad a hug and ran to the coop. I loved them so much. They were all different color and made weird noises. That is why I made the title to my art piece is, The Chicken Coop. A few things I put in mine are chickens, a chicken coop, and me. 

One important choice I made when building the geometric framework was using triangles. Triangles represent growth and this was a huge step in my maturity because even when I didn’t feel like it I had to feed them. I used zig-zags to show how excited I was. One choice I made with color was I used bright color. This affected my artwork by showing my emotions and what I was feeling in this moment. 

The connection I learned was you can use shapes and colors to express emotion. I chose to use triangles, because they of what they represent in their culture. I would probably not have used them, until I learned this. By combining these, I learned that you can express and show how you feel through shapes. These are some of the things I figured I learn from my study on Dr. Ester Mahlangu.  

My piece titled “Overthrown,” is one of my childhood memories I had during the summer a couple years ago. I had gone tubing with some of my friends that go camping with me; and the boat had taken a sharp turn, sending the tube over a large wave that threw me in the air. To translate this memory into stylized motifs inspired by Ndebele visual traditions, I changed the side boarders into close triangles to represent that there was togetherness during the time out at the river. 

One important choice I made when building the geometric framework was making it with circles and chevrons to show there was no bad energy and eternal life because it was a happy and wonderful day being together. 

I connected something I noticed in Mahlangu’s work to my own piece by adding triangles, diamonds, lines, and circles to show how I felt during my memory. 

Art by esther mahlangu, the inspiration behind our projects and more.