Inside Manyaku Mashilo’s Art : A Journey Through Sacred Womanhood
Heritage comes to mind at the sight of Manyaku Mashilo (b. 1991)’s art. Her masterful use of elements, textures, and colours draws directly from a childhood spent in her family’s remote village, where community and intention shaped the everyday lives of women. Now on view in Los Angeles with her solo exhibition The Laying of Hands, Mashilo presents a compelling body of work that celebrates the power of community, womanhood, and spirituality. A must-see: mysterious, magnetic, and deeply rooted.
Manyaku MASHILO, Courtesy of Hayden Phipps/Southern Guild.
In this interview, Manyaku Mashilo shares the profound thoughts and creative process behind her latest works, presented in The Laying of Hands at Southern Guild, Los Angeles. She offers deeper insight into the inspirations that shape her practice, revealing the layered meanings behind her powerful visual language.
Ngalula Mafwata : A range of emotions and notions embrace us when we look at your work: strength, peace but also mystery - we could almost imagine the sound and scent of it. How would you personally describe its essence?
Manyaku Mashilo : While making my work I am surrounded by music, scents, images and colours that ground and remind me of where I am from. My studio is intentionally dressed with these talismans. There is a kind of nostalgia these objects and elements trigger in me that informs the direction of the making. I think subconsciously, the energy I surround myself with inevitably finds its way into the work. It is affirming to hear that these emotions are permeating the work and are felt by those that engage with them.
Ngalula Mafwata : Creativity is often described as a form of intelligence, a way of seeing and feeling the world differently. When did you first realise you were an artist, and what have been the key influences that shaped your vision?
Manyaku Mashilo : My early childhood took place in rural Limpopo during a time where South Africans were living under the harsh hand of Apartheid. My father made sure we spent a lot of time in the rural village with my grandmother and other elders. As children, we were tucked away in a village that did things slowly and collectively, everything was rooted in the intention to support and grow the community. I grew up watching my grandmother work to heal communities, helping others build their own shelters and teaching them to farm their own land. This was an immense privilege considering what was unfolding in other parts of the country. Life in the village is navigated and understood through storytelling, spirituality and mythology. This beginning influenced my understanding of the world and my work. I am creating a space for these wisdoms, knowledge systems and rituals to persist, to be told and retold, to be shared.
Manyaku Mashilo, Courtesy of Matt Dutile/Southern Guild.
“I am creating a space for these wisdoms, knowledge systems and rituals to persist, to be told and retold, to be shared.”
SACRED WOMANHOOD
Ngalula Mafwata : Women occupy a central role in your paintings, often in groups and also through self-insertion. Who are these women to you?
Manyaku Mashilo : The characters in my work are imagined. They are real and also not real. They exist both in my world and sometimes in the real world. What is most important to me is the role they are playing within the canvas. They are there to entice, drawing you in with their unflinching gaze. They are made to spark a curiosity in the viewer about the world they live in and who they are. The gaze is also a way of protecting themselves and the other figures around them. These characters embody and revere the feminine energy I grew up around. They sometimes serve as alter egos, navigating and housing the experiences and stories that I cannot tell myself.
We came unafraid and willing to stay, Acrylic, ink, red ochre on canvas, Manyaku Mashilo, 2024, Courtesy of Lea Crafford/Southern Guild.
Ngalula Mafwata : Your work has long explored cosmology, rituals, and traditions. Yet, in this new series, there’s a stronger connection to earthly elements. What led to this shift?
Manyaku Mashilo : My experience and knowledge of cosmology, ritual and tradition is all centered around earthly elements. I don't think there has been much of a shift but perhaps a deepening of this exploration. The inclusion of earthly elements has always been an essential driving force within my practice. The elements are always working with me, guiding my intuition and leading me to new understandings of the world and self.
Ngalula Mafwata : The title itself carries a sense of spirituality and transmission. What drew you to the symbolism of hands, and what power did you want to capture through this gesture?
Manyaku Mashilo : The exhibition’s title speaks to a ritual I witnessed growing up. People surround you in a circle and lay their hands on you as a way to collectively transfer energy and offer healing. I watched my mothers use their hands all the time; to take care of us, to make things for us, to tend to the land. Their language of love and care was made real through the work of their hands. When thinking about feminine knowledge, the hands are a recurring and significant motif. Hands speak to touch, nourishment, intention, labour and connection.
ELEMENTS AND COLOURS
Ngalula Mafwata : Your depictions of women feel deeply connected to the materials and colours you use—how do you see this relationship evolving in The Laying of Hands ?
Manyaku Mashilo : Colour and materiality in my culture are potent signifiers. They communicate where you are from and what stage of your life you’re in spiritually. Clay features prominently in the body of work, inspired by the ‘koma’ coming-of-age ceremony for young Sepedi women. Each of my figures is cloaked in red paint mixed with ochre, referencing ‘letsoku’, a traditional paste of red ochre mixed with clay and animal fat. This salve is smeared on young women’s bodies as they enter this sacred period under the guidance of their matriarchs. The pigment sends a message to the community to keep their distance, to allow this young woman the necessary space to experience this journey free from external influence and interference.
Ngalula Mafwata : The colour red is important across the artworks presented but is also a common thread across your whole oeuvre. What power does this hold?
Manyaku Mashilo : I’ve shared the particular significance of the colour red and its connection to the ‘koma’ ritual. Beyond this connotation, I think there is something primal, dynamic and alive in the colour red. It is the colour of clay, mineral-rich earth, blood and fire. It carries the symbolism of love, danger, destruction, sensuality and mortality.
Ngalula Mafwata : In this body of work, we can notice the addition of a blue through batons and dots across the series. What is the meaning behind it?
Manyaku Mashilo : I have a picture of my grandmother wearing a blue work coat. This coat is worn by many working-class South Africans who work in factories. My maternal grandmother worked in one of these factories. For me, this colour represents support, resilience and hard work. It also speaks to the work that my ancestors did for this country, for their families and for me.
Held by the Sky II, Acrylic, ink, red ochre on canvas, Manyaku Mashilo, 2024, Courtesy of Lea Crafford/Southern Guild.
“My practice explores ways of preserving and materialising ancestral knowledge systems, rituals, symbologies that I believe are in danger of being lost. I’d like to think that the work can be read as both an act of preservation as well as an imagining of what the future might look like. ”
Ngalula Mafwata : Lepara appears as a recurring symbol in your work. What does it represent in the context of healing and protection?
Manyaku Mashilo : Lepara is a staff that is gifted to the head of a family or to healers of communities. This wooden carved stick is charged with prayers and intentions towards the holder. My father was gifted one by his father when he acquired his first house. It hung on the wall of our home and served as a symbol of protection for our family. Growing up, I was always fascinated with how intentions, wishes, beliefs can be represented and energetically held by objects. Whenever you look at it you know that there is a collective hope and faith in the longevity and safety of your family and home. I hope to inherit this staff one day.
Ngalula Mafwata : There’s a high value of transmission in your work, do you see this body of work as an act of cultural preservation or a reimagining of the future?
Manyaku Mashilo : My practice explores ways of preserving and materialising ancestral knowledge systems, rituals, symbologies that I believe are in danger of being lost. I’d like to think that the work can be read as both an act of preservation as well as an imagining of what the future might look like. The world feels as if it is in a state of crisis and wounding. These ancient wisdoms, our ways of connecting to each other and the earth, acts of care for our communities - I believe these cultural practices map a way forward, to survive and to rebuild.
Find out more about Manyaku Mashilo on her personal spaces and on www.southernguild.com
