Andile Dyalvane

Study - iNgqweji I (Bird's Nest): SOLD

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Description/

In Andile Dylavane’s series, iNgqweji, comprising of studies for larger-scale pieces, he incorporates nichrome wire into his recognisable ceramic works. These mimic strands of thatch and are used in the kiln element; their ability to withstand heat, rusting, and burn. This material inclusion is inspired by the large nests of the sociable weaver birds, seen by Dyalvane on a trip to the Karoo and Northern Cape in South Africa. He was in awe of the creativity and intricate skill of these beautiful, sculptural objects.
Driving along the road, he noticed the weaver birds built nests between the electricity pylons rather than the trees, and that they faced downwards making them difficult for snakes to access. This adaptation to their surroundings fascinated Dylavane, and reminded him of the architecture of thatch housing in his home village where the different elements of mud and thatch allow for these enclosures to be cool in summer and warm in winter.

Terracotta Stoneware.

Andile Dyalvane

designer

Andile Dyalvane is one of South Africa’s foremost ceramic artists. Guided by a deep spiritual connection to his Xhosa ancestors, Dyalvane’s complex, large-scale ceramic artworks are a metaphorical vessel through which he seeks to honour his cultural traditions and share his journey of healing.

Born in 1978 in the small village of Ngobozana in the rural Eastern Cape of South Africa, Dyalvane grew up farming and looking after his father’s cattle herd – sewing a deep connection to the land that resonates powerfully through his work today. He has held solo exhibitions at Southern Guild in Cape Town and Friedman Benda in New York – the most recent of which was the critically acclaimed iThongo (Ancestral Dreamscape) in 2020 and 2021 – and has exhibited widely, lectured, and held artist residencies all over the world.

His work is in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum, Vitra Design Museum, New Taipei City Yingge Ceramics Museum and Iziko South African National Gallery. A member of the International Academy of Ceramics, he completed a National Diploma in Ceramic Design at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in 2003 and co-founded Imiso Ceramics with Zizipho Poswa in 2005. Southern Guild has shown his work at international fairs such as Design Miami, Design Miami/ Basel, The Salon Art + Design, NY Now, and Design Days Dubai.