
Tapiwa Mapuranga
(b. 1971, Nyanga, Africa)
Tapiwa Mapuranga
was
born in 1971 in Nyanga, a mountainous region near Mozambique, with a
strong sculpting tradition. Two of the founding families of the Shona
art movement – the Nyanhongos and the Marigas – describeNyanga as their
rural and spiritual home.
Tapiwa calls himself a “late to bloom” artist. Although he enjoyed wood
carving and
drawing in school, Tapiwa had no experience with stone carving until
1998, when he
was
offered a formal apprenticeship with master carver, Claud Nyanhongo
(1934—
2006).
For six months he worked on sanding and polishing the works of the
senior
artists at the studio before he picked up any tools.
As soon as Tapiwa started carving he says he knew this was his destiny.
“I am fascinated by the human figure and women in particular. I observe
them going about their
daily
work and try to create their emotion and movement in stone.” He
continues, “I
try to
capture the spiritual aspects of humanity and nature in my sculptures.”
In 1999 Tapiwa participated in a group exhibition organized by the
National Gallery
of
Zimbabwe in Mutare. The next year Gideon Nyanhongo invited him to become
a
resident artist at the family’s studio in Harare, one of the most
prestigious studios in
the
country, where he remained until 2004.
In 2005 Tapiwa decided to work exclusively from his home studio and to
start a mentorship program for younger aspiring sculptors. It’s a
program he has continued to
this
day at his rural home studio in Goromonzi.
Tapiwa
loves to sculpt in the colourful Nyanga serpentines, finding the stone
itself
a
source of inspiration. His beautifully expressive sculptures represent
evocative
vignettes of the Shona culture and people. His work has sold to
collectors and
galleries in Germany, Holland, Israel, the UK, US and Canada.
Jones
& Terwilliger Galleries is proud to represent Tapiwa Mapuranga's
work in California.
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