nomThunzi Mashalaba is a South African artist currently based in Mthatha. She graduated with a B-Tech (Fine Arts) from Tshwane University of Technology in 2006. Mashalaba’s interdisciplinary practice revolves around exploring deeper into personal stories. Her recent work deals with loss and mourning, and is informed by existential philosophy, psychology and the notion of textiles as a form of language. These new works are established in both two- and three-dimensions, taking the form of intricate woven paintings, layered wall hangings and freestanding pieces. 

By experimenting and modifying weaving methods, Mashalaba both deconstructs and transforms the weaving process to create residual archives of memories. She explores the capriciousness of memory, and creates works that are an amalgamation of textile techniques both traditional and in parallel with unorthodox undertakings. The ambiguous narration of the work is intended to go beyond its original basis to the unpredictable shaping of something that is simultaneously the present, past, personal and otherwise.