Mashile, Colbert

South Africa, 1972

Colbert Mashile was born in 1972 in Bushbuckridge, a small town in a remote South African province. His family belonged to Mapulana clan, firmly nested in ancestral traditions and rites. At the age of ten, like many of his peers, Colbert went through Mapulana initiation school, an experience than involved circumcision rituals and was marked by a demand for secrecy and silence from the initiated. As a young adult, Colbert found himself haunted by the memory of the initiation experience and sought refuge in art.
Coming from a family of teachers, he was expected to become one himself upon graduating High School. However, his curiosity for art prevailed over family obligations and he attended Johannesburg Art Foundation and then the University of the Witwatersrand, where he got a degree in Fine Arts. Through his work, Colbert explores the psychological impact of Mapulana rites as well as issues of cultural determinism within small tribal communities. In his imagery, figures of people, domestic animals and native landscape are intertwined with mythological creatures. His paintings are a place of encounter between the natural and the mystical. Mashile’s fine senses of color and form help him create vivid, ludic and engaging works. What is most striking, is the contrast between the seeming serenity of his landscapes and the complex symbolism of his representation of human experience.
Colbert Mashile has attained national and international recognition and has participated in various international projects, including David Krut Project in New York.