Lady Skollie is the up and coming artist du jour – Her work brings together themes of love, sex, and desire, but that’s just the fun stuff. An activist and an educator, this multifaceted media darling is using her powers for good and changing the face of the South African art establishment.

 

Words: Tshiamo Seape

 

 

 

Lady Skollie – you know the name, surely – is a close friend of ours here at The Wire, but we can’t keep her to ourselves, even if we wanted to. Bald-headed, bold, and beautiful, our girl, Lady, is a straight up rock star and looks the part too. On any given day she can be seen strolling the streets in an ensemble that would make you think she’s draped in one of her own canvasses.

Even her name, Lady Skollie, is a puzzle to be deciphered. A lady, refined and genteel, sitting alongside “Skollie” a word denoting a shady character. She wants you to know that she’s a woman, but needs you to understand that you won’t pin her down or box her in – she’s a bad girl and if you think you’ve got her figured out prepare yourself for a rude awakening. This Lady won’t sit in the corner waiting for her turn to speak. She’s ready to snatch the spotlight and tell the world what’s on her mind.

Her unique style has even inspired mythical status with anyone sporting a shaved dome branded as a copycat.

Being a prominent artist today is an enviable achievement, but one that comes with a great deal of personal exposure, but she takes it all in her Air Jordan clad stride. She has taken this exposure and flourished. She has been given a platform for self-expression and used it to create both beauty and bring light to important issues that society is all too ready to ignore.

Lady Skollie is bad as she wants to be because she can back it up at home and abroad. Her latest exhibition, Lust Politics, which opened at the Tyburn Gallery in the UK is awash with colour and texture. The imagery is provocative, and underscores issues of gender, femininity, and independence – it also sells very well. But as she told WHAT WE SEE in an interview “I don’t want earning pounds to make me lazy.” Her hunger just another item on the list of admirable attributes. Even her friends are cool: She counts actress and author Buhle Ngaba – an “unobtainable cutie” as she says, as one of her mates. Her politics, most importantly, are also very cool.

Besides being a talented artist she is at the forefront of empowering women through the work she does. She is a vocal advocate of woman’s rights and regularly speaks on these issues to young and/or marginalised woman.

The Lady with the Golden Brush has charmed her way into our hearts, and whatever she has in store for the future she’ll always be on our radar.

Don’t miss out Twitterview with her on Friday 9 June, 1PM @CSAtweets

 

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