Rastafarian Hogsback sculptor Luyanda Mayekiso credits the Bible and marijuana for inspiring his quirky vases and teapots that he produces in the small mud house he shares with his dogs Roxy, Fire and Serious.
Like many self-taught artists in the mountain hamlet Mayekiso, 43, fashions clay hogs and sells them to tourists, but the artist has extended his work to a distinctive range of beautiful, animal encrusted ceramics.
“I started making woodwork and clay pieces when I was nine years old,” said Mayekiso, who was born in Hogsback and watched his grandfather and father mould clay.
After completing Standard 9 in Cape Town, Mayekiso drew landscapes and portraits and sold them in the streets of the Mother City before returning to the Amathole mountain village in 2003.
“When I moved back I built a mud home and learnt to be a gardener,” said Mayekiso. “I also went to adult school and learnt to do still-life drawings.”
One of his works is called The Lion Hotel and features a double-storey hotel complete with clusters of guests enjoying a meal, while above them a lion lies stretched out on the roof.
Below the unperturbed revellers is a zoo containing a snake pit, chickens and other animals.
“This is based on a real hotel in the mountain in Cape Town,” insists Mayekiso. “I think about it in my dreams.”
He described a regular day in his life as starting early, boiling water, smoking “zoll” and working on his sculptures.
“Then I smoke for two hours and work until 8pm,” he said.
“Smoking helps me come up with nice details.”
As practical as he is creative, the artist built a kiln in his home where he fires his pieces to glossy perfection.
“A vase takes me about two hours to make, but for a big piece I need three days. A lot of my work is sold in Cape Town, but visitors to Hogback also buy from me.”
Animals feature on all his pieces. Giraffes crane above the rim of a vase, goats and dogs are draped over a teapot and a dog is curled up at the feet of a sculpture of a sangoma and a bald man with a black moustache.
“I love animals. I don’t have a TV so I see zebras and the Big Five in books. And when I smoke, God sends me pictures because I am a Rastafarian.”
l In East London, Mayekiso’s work is available at the Eastern Cape Craft Collection shop on Old Transkei Road, Nahoon. — barbarah@dispatch.co.za