In October, Delaire Graff Lodges & Spa will relaunch following an extensive remodelling project guided by the vision and knowledge of the Estate’s Owner Laurence Graff OBE. Implemented by renowned interior designer, David Collins Studio, each space has been crafted to complement Laurence Graff’s extensive private collection of modern and contemporary art.
Commissioned works, from South African artists and makers Jesse Ede and Chuma Maweni, represented by Cape Town gallery Southern Guild will be showcased within the refurbished shared guests spaces.
Solar Portal, crafted by Ede will feature within the space. A large-scale, wall-based bronze sculpture it draws inspiration from the ancient Egyptians who worshipped the sun god Ra. The textured bronze surface of this circular panel – the result of open-cast smelting – gives way to a mirror-polished oblong area in the centre. The panel portrays the sun opening up with a portal that in turn reflects the viewer, or worshipper, inside it.
Maweni too is in the process of creating two artworks, an intricate chandelier that forms part of his Isibane (meaning ‘light’ in isiXhosa) collection, as well as an Imbizo-inspired (meaning ‘gathering’ in isiXhosa) table. As one would expect from ceramics formed at the wheel, circular shapes predominate within the chandelier, creating a resolved design whose structure and ornamentation echo one another. Whether carved into the wooden tops of his Imbizo tables or fashioned out of clay, simplified geometric shapes feature heavily within his works and Maweni acknowledges the influence of his own Xhosa culture on these pieces.
CHUMA MAWEDE
A master of hand-thrown ceramics, Chuma Maweni’s distinctive approach combines contemporary hand-coiled shapes marked with precisely patterned incisions. Born in Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape, he traces his interest in ceramics to his earliest memories of making clay figures of bulls and cows on muddy riverbanks. After graduating with a B-Tech degree in ceramics from Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, he spent a number of years teaching ceramics to rural women in a poverty alleviation programme.
After moving to Cape Town, Maweni mentored and taught other ceramicists while honing his style, garnering local attention for his series of teardrop-shaped vessels and conical pots. Pit-fired with the same techniques used by Nguni tribes before him, his artworks’ dark, porous surfaces, striking silhouettes and smoky scent established him as a distinctly contemporary ceramicist dedicated to his craft. He has had his work exhibited by Southern Guild in the Christie’s Design Auction, at The Salon Art + Design in New York City and at Design Miami, and also has had work acquired by the Metropolitan Museum in New York.
JESSE EDE
