4me4you Features - “Nocturne”.
At the heart of Nocturne is a celebration of community and expression.
Khanyisa’s playful assemblages draw from a wide array of materials and textures, featuring hand-carved figures set within intuitive modernist compositions. These characters inhabit intricately layered backdrops—part painting, part collage, part sculpture—constructed from found objects and architectural motifs.
There’s a compelling dialogue between the personal and the political here, as Khanyisa looks to their immediate surroundings, digital culture, and the social histories of South Africa to evaluate the present.
Khanyisa’s process is rich with experimentation. With a background in both Traditional and Digital Animation, their practice merges fluid modernist forms with striking figuration and painterly realism. Their use of materials is meticulous yet intuitive: a 1990s Nokia phone, a coupe cocktail glass, an ostrich leather handbag, a vintage rotary phone—each object chosen not only for its visual appeal but for its ability to ground the work in a specific time and place.
Humour plays an essential role throughout Khanyisa’s work. It lightens the weight of deeply consequential themes, allowing viewers to engage critically while maintaining a sense of levity. This approach is not only refreshing but necessary, as it invites a deeper, more empathetic understanding of the lived experiences being depicted.
With Nocturne, Dada Khanyisa continues to expand their unique visual language—one rooted in observation, shaped by community, and sharpened by cultural critique. The result is a compelling, immersive experience that speaks as much to personal memory as it does to the broader social currents shaping contemporary life.
Artist: Dada Khanyisa
