Vuyo Mabheka’s mixed memories

Children’s drawings can speak a thousand words. They may not be entirely accurate, but they can provide insight into a child’s mind before he can conjure up the vocabulary he needs: his likes and dislikes, his hopes, the way he sees the world.

Although the works in South African artist Vuyo Mabheka’s debut book, Popihuise, were created as an adult, the childlike purity of the pieces makes the message at the heart of the project more profound.

The book’s title comes from the Afrikaans word “pophuis”, meaning doll’s house, which Mabheka says is a popular form of play among children in townships in South Africa.

His creative process “borrows” from pophuis, he explains: “Essentially, I create an imaginary environment in which I have a fair degree of control over what happens, as opposed to my childhood life and so-called “real life” in the villages . “

At the end of the book, Mabheka recalls some of these early events. His mother, a domestic worker, could only spend a couple of days a month at home. Thus, his grandmother primarily raised him and his siblings. After her death, they moved away, and he subsequently bounced between homes, schools and communities. “I made a lot of friends, but every time we moved, I had to leave them all behind; memories were all I could save,” he writes in the book.

This emphasis on memory directly influenced his mixed media works. “I paint backgrounds based on memory and imagination, photographing random people in the community, using magazine clippings and rare existing images of myself as a child,” he explains.

“The work was structured in such a way that I could connect it to my own memory, observing how the mind groups similar memories and experiences together. Over time, some memories fade and become intertwined with others, and the mind has to constantly keep up with these changes. I have learned this through my work because the idea I start with is never the end result,” he continues. “Images are the manifestation of multiple experiences and memories coexisting in the same space.”

Every piece is filled with detail, but just as important is what’s missing: a father figure. Although one of them does appear in the images, he is not depicted as a photograph like the other people, but as drawings based on Mabheka’s imagination, reflecting the fact that he never met his father.

The complex and introspective book became a cathartic process for the artist. Although he always had some family and friends around him, “having intimate conversations about the harsh realities of life was never a thing,” he explains. He kept everything in check and experienced mood swings, closing himself off from people he didn’t know as a result, but the creation of Popihuise encouraged him to open up.

“Working on this personal project was challenging at first because I felt like I was sharing too much about myself, but over time I began to realize that sharing is important and there are many people I can connect with.”

Popihuise by Vuyo Mabheka is published by Chose Commune; choosecommune.com