Durban - An art investment is a great gift for the festive season and opportunity knocks with an exhibition opening today of wire art by master crafter Elliot Mkhize.
Mkhize, 72, who has travelled around the world, is internationally recognised for his wire basket weaving.
In an interview with The Independent on Saturday this week, Mkhize said he was delighted to be holding his first solo art exhibition at the Phansi Museum in Glenwood.
Mkhize was born in Richmond and grew up watching his father carving. He attended the Ndaleni Art School where he learned traditional basketry techniques, but it was a few years later, when he was working as a security guard at the Playhouse, that he first saw night watchmen covering their sticks with telephone wire.
“They used telephone wire which was much more colourful than grass. I thought, I can do something more with this,” said Mkhize.
That was in 1973 and after weaving his first basket out of the brightly coloured telephone wires, he took it to the African Art Centre to see if he could sell it. From that moment, Mkhize took the world of telephone-wire weaving to new heights, designing colourful baskets that were soon in demand across the globe.
Over the years he has travelled to France, Denmark, Mexico, Japan, China and America, where his work is particularly popular. He has recently returned from China.
Mkhize explained that he does not draw any of his designs before starting a new basket, but has the idea for a new design in his imagination which appears as he is working. He describes his head as “always being full of patterns, images and colour combinations”.
Known for his amazing dexterity, he uses the hard wire or coiling technique, unlike the soft wire method of weaving. Hard wire baskets are made from the inside out with the wire being wound around the core wire in outward circles. It is considered more difficult than soft wire weaving and requires a high level of weaving skill.
He makes it as a flat plate which, when completed, is curved, so he has to take that into account with the design.
Showing the intricacies of weaving with practised hands, Mkhize said: “A basket will take a few weeks to complete, depending on the size of the basket. When I’m working, I don’t like people talking to me. I have to concentrate or I might make a mistake. It does take patience.”
Since 1959, Mkhize has lived just outside KwaMashu and, as a father of 10 and grandfather of 10, his days are full. Two of his children, S’khumbuzo and Melusi, work with him.
“I am normally up by 5am. I am a farmer as well and spend about 30 minutes in the garden before I start working on my baskets. Depending on orders, I have breakfast, lunch and tea while I’m working,” he said.
He buys his wire supplies from an art supply store or security supply company.
Known as the father of wire art and a master crafter, Mkhize is in demand to teach the younger generation, including people in Siyanda, who are now also selling their work through the African Art Centre and other retail outlets in Durban.
He attends numerous workshops and has no intention of retiring quietly any time soon.
“I am very happy to pass on my skills. I take inspiration when I am travelling and I have my own style. I like to see those I am teaching developing their own style.”
Mkhize has participated in a number of group exhibitions over the years and his work is represented in numerous private and public collections, including the Campbell Collection, Durban Art Gallery, Vukani Museum, Tatham Art Gallery, SA National Gallery and Johannesburg Art Gallery. His work is sought out by national and international collectors.
His exhibition runs from tomorrow to January 13, at 10am. For more information, phone Sharon Crampton
at 031 206 2889.