In Ukuzihlukanisa, Buthelezi explores ideas of self-reflection, identity, and spirituality through black and white digital photographs. The camera’s lens being the instrument for wit(h)nessing.
Through a series of self-portraits and portraits, he has produced a new body of work that draws from surviving the isolation experienced during the national COVID19 lockdown.
In the initial stages he used his bedroom as a studio to make the self-portraits, seen in the choice of props used by the artist: bubble wrap, tin foil, lace fabric, bed sheets, and other materials found in a home.
The images carefully depict the meditative state of the artist when he started to wonder about the biblical concept of an angel and how he could elevate himself spiritually to attain the level of divinity and purity described in the holy book.
As the process developed, Buthelezi invited his friends to participate in the act of image-making, and making as a form of meaning-making as Erin Manning would put it. The work dwelled on the importance and basic human need for companionship, and how the inclusion of others in this introspective work, helped build social tissue in such a painfully lonely time.