Desire to get exposure leads artist to the street

Driven by his desire to get exposure for his portraits a local artist sits patiently on his camping chair on the side of the road.

Jason Mphahlele (23) is a regular sight in Voortrekker Street outside Total Lydenburg where he showcases his portraits.

“I am reaching for my dream using the only platform I have available and I believe I will one day achieve it.
“I want to be noticed beyond Lydenburg. I would love for my work to one day be recognised on national and international level.

“For now, since I do not have a gallery and I have not reached the level, I will take my camping chair and my work to the side of the road,” he explained.

His work is titled Grey-Art. Mphahlele is a part-time student in multimedia in digital visual arts through Unisa. His passion for art started when he was young and he would draw simple things to sharpen his skills.

“Enock Mlangeni is my inspiration. I love his work and my dream is to achieve that degree of recognition.

“I do not have any university qualifications so I could not qualify for any job. I refused to be a person that sits at home and feels sorry for myself so I decided to go out and hoped that I would be able to make money out of my passion,” he said.

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“For me to do a good job I need to use various pencils and I also need to buy papers which I use when drawing. Every portrait has its own time to complete and every day a new idea comes into the work being done. It is about creativity,” he said.

“I want to own a gallery so that I can display and sell my work.”

He also uses social media to promote his art. Mphahlele can be followed on Instagram going by the name of Grey_Art1.

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People can also follow him on Facebook as Jason Mphahlele or contact him on 076-290-2017.