Africa Dreaming: Cecilia Wilmot Ballam

Cecilia Wilmot Ballam was born in England in 1976, to South African artist parents, and returned to her home country in the late 1980s. Ballam graduated from the University of Natal with a Bachelor of Arts in 1998. Based in Johannesburg since 2004, she is also the owner of Space Alchemy art and sculpture studio: “This is where I have had the opportunity and studio space to further the scale of commissions and use this platform to accumulate a large knowledge and application of the technical elements of sculpture. With my dedicated and gifted assistant junior sculptors, the reciprocal growth has and continues to be a highly rewarding experience, and one that is a contributing factor to the continuing quality of commissions undertaken.”

 

Ballam works primarily in clay sculpting and bronze casting, and her pieces can best be described as sculptural portraiture, where an accurate representation of physical features and form is balanced finely with the artist’s greater aim of capturing and portraying the soul or essence of the subject: “I study my subject matter, not only on physical appearance, but historical relevance, personality, and so forth. As an example, I listened to Giuseppe Verdi’s music constantly for weeks while conceptualising and sculpting the commission of his bust. This helped to create a portrait that I felt to be authentic. For me, my most meaningful portrait was of Madiba. I feel I have shown his wisdom, kindness and love, but also with an undertone of his strong will.”