Unisan wins big at art awards

Sue Clark, Unisa’s final year visual arts student, is the first-prize winner of the Thami Mnyele Fine Arts Awards (TMFAA). Asked how she defines Art, she says: “It is a visual conversation with yourself and viewers, telling stories, offering ideas, and asking questions.” She adds: “The more viewers can participate in the conversation, the more meaningful an artwork becomes to you and the viewer.”

Sue Clark

The TMFAA recognises artists who transcend limitations and reconfigure and manipulate contemporary cultural, social and political signs. The awards started in 1987 and were later renamed after the late resistance artist Harry Thamsanqa “Thami” Mnyele, a freedom fighter who utilised Art as a tool of expression and communication during the struggle for liberation from apartheid.

Clark, who recently won the cash prize of R60 000, says receiving the award was completely unexpected and jolted her into the realisation that people out there saw what she was trying to do in her artwork and that it was something they could relate to.

She believes she emerged as the winner because her work for the competition was spontaneous and experimental. The Tshwane-born artist selected materials she found around her that represent where she lives and the people she lives with.

According to the adjudicator’s reports, Clark’s artwork focused on the fearless investigation into her environment – expressed through experimentation with materials and techniques. In addition, the report asserts that Clark tries to initiate conversations around how South African cities are evolving, which aligns with Thami Mnyele’s ideas and the competition’s vision.

According to Thami Mnyele: “Art must become a process−a living, growing phenomena that people should relate and identify with. Not a mysterious world or a universe apart from them.”  Advising aspiring artists, Clark says: “Art is not an easy option as a subject choice. It takes hard work and commitment.” She adds: “The process involves constant criticism from self and outside but also self-motivation.” She continues: “Welcome constructive criticism and feedback. Do not take it personally, even though it is difficult not to.”

Clark emerged as the winner of the TMFAA from a total of 320 entries.

* By Tebogo Mahlaela, Communication and Marketing Specialist, College of Human Sciences