IveliLengelosi

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.

n 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.

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.p

In essence, this work is about what it means to be human. An existential question that most people grapple with, even more so during the isolation of quarantine implemented during the first national lockdown. Buthelezi came face to face with the precariousness of (Black) life and in turn sought aid from what he perceived as an entity beyond the self.