Memory as Form: Thapo Sekoaila

Thapo Sekoaila, born in 1980 in Polokwane, South Africa, is a visual artist and curator currently living and working in Springs, east of Johannesburg. Sekoaila completed a National Diploma in Fine Arts at Wits Technikon in 2003, and further obtained a BTech FA, majoring in sculpture.

Sekoaila works in multimedia on canvas or paper, often producing works that are textured and multidimensional, with central human subjects becoming the conduit for the emotion the artist is exploring. The stylised faces and etched inscriptions that surround many of the figures speak of a deep yearning that connects to a past of struggle, as well as a future of hope.

In Sekoaila’s recent work, the artist draws attention to the idea of memory, recalling, and finding clues to dreams. These dream representations mirror his worldview, which incorporates personal and cultural beliefs: "Dreams are said to be experiences that are made up of images, thoughts, fears, movements, transcendence beyond ordinary limitations of space and time. Dream experiences tend to encapsulate extreme feelings of joy or fear, at times they are very vivid and direct, while at other times they tend to be a bit iffy. Within African spirituality, it is believed that dreams, at times, can be encounters with and messages from our own ancestors, who serve as our guides and protectors.

"I hardly remember my dreams or have any distinct recollections of the elements, narratives, or occurrences of most of my dreams. The failure to remember a dream when you wake up does not mean you weren’t aware of it when it occurred. It just means the experience was never really carved into your memory, that the dream has decayed in storage, or is not accessible for adequate recollection."

The palette and mark-making techniques employed by Sekoaila suggest an eternal childlike experience of the world - where what is felt looms more imposingly than what is sensed or can be transmitted to the audience. When engaging with Sekoaila's oeuvre, the viewer is drawn back into their own vivid life of the mind, and the ghosts, dreams, memories that might dwell there.