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Shona Sculpture is a modern movement of stone sculpting which emerged out of Zimbabwe in the mid 1950s. The Shona relationship with the ground and the stone it provides in abundance is linked closely to their spiritual and cultural practices. Using precious stones mined from the fault line of Zimbabwe Africa, they portray themes of their culture in work.
My work has concentrated on abstract figurative sculptures, carved from natural stone. Many of my pieces are human figures, often female faces and here and there abstracts and animals . As a Zimbabwean artist, my work often emphasizes the beauty of unique zimbabwean culture. For example, my springstone sculpture mother with the baby at her back carrying firewood on top of her head show Zimbabwean culture from way back. Oftentimes inspiration comes to me only after I've begun to carve a piece, from a place deep inside my subconscious. During the carving process, most planning and analysis is put on hold while my hands and intuition take over.
My hands are often on "auto-pilot" as I work and my mind is faster than my hands. My primary tools are simple. I use a hammer, a punch, chasing hammer, chisels, rasp, file and sandpapers from rough grit to the finest grit the same tools that have served carvers through the centuries. The stones that I carve vary widely with regard to hardness and appearance. My stones range from colorful nyanga stones from the family mine, white dolomites, leopard rocks, alabasters and to white marbles shine springstones and limestones.
Sky is the limit.