Nando’s Vusa Award: our finalists!

Link to this headingMncedi Madolo

Mncedi Madolo (b.1988) is a South African artist based at Asisebenze Art Atelier. He has a national diploma in Fine Arts from Walter Sisulu University (2014) where he majored in painting. In 2015 he completed his diploma in business skills with SEDA, all while engaging in graphic design, brand identity, and commissioned work for friends and family. In 2017 he moved to Johannesburg to pursue a full-time career as a fine artist.

Immersed in the vibrant urban environment of one of Africa’s most dynamic cities, he finds inspiration in the everyday struggles and triumphs of the South African people, particularly those navigating the complexities of lower-middle-class existence amidst political and personal challenges.

Link to this headingNdaya Ilunga

Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1995 to Congolese refugee parents, Ndaya Ilunga’s artistic journey began amidst the creative atmosphere of her mother’s studio at the Bag Factory. From the age of seven, Ndaya immersed herself in painting, sculpture, and collecting eclectic objects. Her spirited curiosity gravitated towards stories and ancient mythologies.

After pursuing art in high school, she delved deeper into her passion by studying Fine Arts at the University of Johannesburg. In her third year she was awarded the German archdiocese exposure trip to Stuttgart, igniting her fascination with detailed paintings, sculptures, and prints from the Surrealism movement and the Renaissance.

Art became a creative outlet and journey of self-discovery into her displaced refugee heritage, prompting Ndaya to explore her divergent identity. This quest led her to the Ampersand fellowship in Manhattan, where she began merging surrealism with Afrofuturism, shaping her unique artistic style.

Interning at Goodman Gallery further fuelled her exploration of the human experience. Ndaya’s work explores themes of collective consciousness, blackness, and the human condition, often morphing humanoid figures into alternative realities to create visually captivating imagery.

Based in Johannesburg, she defines herself as an Afrofuturist Surrealist, continually pushing boundaries in her exploration of identity and existence.

Link to this headingJohan Stegmann

Johan Stegmann (b. 1988) describes his preferred mediums as Charcoal, Etchings and Explosions.

His practice applies the aesthetic and technical skills of etching and charcoal as mediums utilised in the Renaissance and Romantic art eras associated with Western classicism. As a point of entry, he utilizes this sensibility to entice the viewer into detailed – almost miniature – narratives rooted in historical legacies and fallacies. He presents ideas of erasure by surreptitiously inserting iconography borrowed from popular culture, political figures and various South African-held wars to denote paradoxical perspectives on the duality of contemporary identity in general and his Afrikaans upbringing specifically.

Link to this headingRobyn Munnik

Robyn Munnick is an artist and lecturer at Rhodes University and one of a new generation of painters exploring unconventional and experimental ways of working with her medium. In 2023, she was selected to participate in the Nando’s Creative Exchange, a flagship programme which recognises emerging South African artists who demonstrate exceptional ability.

My primary mode of delivery for my art-making process is painting, she saysHowever, through strengthening the messages and meanings within my art, my artmaking techniques explore a variety of unconventional media within painting. This is vital in visualising and aestheticizing the conceptual underpinnings of my art. The unconventional approach to painting enables me to experiment with a variety of media and tools to explore the endless possibilities of manipulating media as opposed to the two-dimensional limitations of paint on canvas.

Link to this headingNadine Mathenjwa

Nadine Mathenjwa is an emerging artist born and raised in Gauteng, South Africa. She graduated from Artist Proof Studio in 2021 and recently completed her 4th-year internship programme at the studio in February 2023.

Currently based in Ellis House, Johannesburg, Nadine actively produces artworks and participates in various competitions. Notably, she achieved recognition as a top 12 finalist in the prestigious ANNA award competition in 2022. With a deep passion for the arts, Nadine also aspires to pursue further studies in the field of fashion.

Link to this headingJordan Swart (Blcktagg)

As an artist that faced early childhood trauma by nearly losing my parents at a young age, art became a tool for me to cope with my emotions and to use as emotional support and outlet, says Jordan Swart, aka Blctagg

I started doodling and scribbling random shapes onto paper. This creative outlet stayed with me over the years slowly transforming from simple doodles into a sophisticated, multilayered approach to my artwork. Drawing inspiration from graffiti, pop art and contemporary art which all influenced me from a young age. I most commonly use paper, canvas, ink and acrylic paint and love creating with them, however, I like to push the envelope by experimenting with different materials and mediums to stay fresh and keep feeding that creative outlet my inner child needed when I was young.

Being inspired by graffiti, street, contemporary and pop art, the message I try to convey to the audience viewing my art is multilayered with different meanings that the viewer should determine for themselves. While maintaining this unique form of creativity I explore different themes through my pieces and challenge the status quo and entrenched world views. The objective is to get people to connect with my art no matter the walk of life they have been through while keeping the art simple and easy to read. I only produce one of one artworks because I want my art to be completely unique and individual so that each owner of a Blcktagg artwork knows that the piece they own is the only one in the world.

Link to this headingItumeleng Mamase

Itumeleng Koloko (b. 25 November 1990) known asMamase, is a passionate visual artist dedicated to exploring the purpose, power, and essence of women through her compelling artworks

Mamase studied Visual Arts as a subject in high school and is largely self-taught. In her parents’ hopes for her to find a ‘decent’ job, she was not permitted to study Fine Arts. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree with a double major in Principles of Management and Marketing from the University of the Witwatersrand (WITS), completed in 2012. She further honed her Strategic Management skills by completing a PMD at the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) in 2019, after which she left her Strategic Management corporate career to serve the world her gift of art.

In her artworks, Mamase conveys transformation and communication through symbols, colour and form, and contrasting objects or subject matters. She also employs impasto application of oil paint to create various textures that present different levels of consciousness.

Combining both masked abstract and realistic subject matter that have evolved through different periods, art movements, portraiture, and still life to an esoteric form, her paintings serve as metaphors for the transformative processes that unfold in the body and psyche of the African tale.

Mamase responds instinctively to her surroundings with an intention to convey the conscious and unconscious realities of women. Her use of signs, symbols, and colour creates a sense of familiarity and mystery. Her aim is to lead both the artist and viewer to the possibility of moving through different states of consciousness.

Link to this headingLloyd Maluleke

Limpopo-born and Johannesburg-based artist Lloyd Maluleke explores absent parentage with a whimsical twist. His vibrant prints feature children in bright hard hats and with shovels, symbolizing admiration rather than labor. These playful depictions reflect his own upbringing, where his mother’s positive outlook transformed his limited time with his father into a tale of community resilience.

Lloyd’s art juxtaposes the fantastical view of children with the grounded reality of women left behind, highlighting their strength and endurance. His work captures the heroism seen through a child’s eyes, balanced by the real-world burdens carried by those at home. Through this blend of whimsy and reality, Maluleke offers a fresh, enticing perspective on family and community.