Sculpting the path of life

CHISELING every edge of wood to a smooth finish has been the bread on his table and the fire in his heart since he was just a young boy.

The now 75-year-old Somopho resident, Sfiso ‘Willis’ Nxumalo has been sculpting and carving wood, stone, horn and bone since the age of seven.

A father as a wood carver, a mother as a potter – and the tenth child of eleven siblings, Willis sold his first piece of art at the age of eleven and has since made a living off his talent and passion.

Attending his first exhibition in Nqutu, he was thereafter selected to display his work at a Johannesburg gallery and in 1969 selected to go to Zimbabwe for yet another art exhibition.

Travelling to Victoria Falls for a year and then to Bulawayo to train young sculptors, Willis only returned to Johannesburg in 1977.

The following year he was selected by the Swaziland Chamber of Commerce to train and develop the skills of their local crafters and shortly after transferred to Cape Town for the same responsibility.

In 1980 Willis wed his Swazi soul mate and set up base in his hometown of Somopho.

The father of eight, after several exhibitions across the country, was afforded a study grant and completed a course in public management at the University of Witwatersrand, he then went on to lecture at the Natal Technikon.

Compiling a research report on ‘The revival of traditional bone and horn carving techniques for the production of tourist artefacts in KZN’, Willis trained crafters for the Royal household, Africa Art Centre, and various government departments.

‘There is nothing else that has or ever will take priority over sculpting. I dream of images and wake up to carve them. This is my life,’ Willis said.

In his spare time, he enjoys a bit of gardening and his favourite vegetables are sweet potatoes.

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