IN addition to celebrating Women’s Month, Nomsa Ngidi was acknowledged for her incredible artistic skills when she snapped up the third spot for Woza Moya Artist’s Wall.
Ngidi was born in 1969 in Johannesburg and grew up in the Valley of 1000 Hills in the village called KwaMnamatha. She attended a rural school where art was not taught. It was in 1993, when she took a post at an art gallery, that she developed an interest in art. She was inspired by the different paintings and then, in 2004, began collecting offcuts of mount board and invested in a little bit of paint and started painting each Sunday.
Liz Bear saw her work and loved it and asked her to get some formal art lessons. She trained with Maggie Strachan and Pascal Chandler in 2013. Nomsa works in her own style, with Irma Stern overtures.
In 2006, Nomsa was awarded the second prize in the KZNSA member’s exhibition. She also exhibited at the Margate Museum, at the Durban Art Gallery in the Women’s Day exhibition. In 2008, she was selected as a finalist for the Nivea Art award and a year later won second prize in the KZNSA members exhibition. She was also represented at a group exhibition at Art Space Berlin, Carnage Art Gallery in Newcastle, the 2015 Sanlam portrait award and Trailing the Trappists in Mariannhill in 2017. The talented artists sells her work through various galleries in South Africa and abroad.
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The artwork hanging at Woza Moya is entitled Lunch break. The painting is reminiscent of where the artist grew up and, through the artwork, she remembers going to school with no pocket money and that during lunch break she would see her school mates going in groups to the shops to get something to eat.
“I would sit outside on the rocks watching them, and sometimes felt lucky because sometimes they would sit with me,” she said.
Lunch Break shows children rush to their school and viewers described the piece as both moving and poignant as so many children were unable to attend school this last year.
The new monthly initiative at the shop is sponsored by the 100% Foundation. The painting is for sale and people can bid for the painting. Bidding starts at R1 500 at the start of each month and will close at the end of the month. The person who has the highest bid can purchase the painting. The artist will get a further percentage of the sale.
“We have reproduced the artwork on a gift card and the artist gets 50% from the sale of her cards. If you love the artist’s work, please support them by buying a card for R25 each. The card sales help artists earn a passive income,” said Woza Moya’s executive director, Paula Thomson.
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