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“She’s piling up her hair and then she’s going to pin it.”
This is a really delightful sculpture of a young lady, by Rufaro Murenza, a previous winner and three-time finalist at Zimbabwe’s prestigious National Arts Merit Awards (sculpture category).
A former apprentice to established artist Joe Mutasa, Rufaro shows his confidence as a sculptor with the fabulous contrasting techniques and finishes. This sculpture is made from a single piece of solid stone, including the base she’s standing on. The different sculpting techniques create the different colours and textures.
Rufaro has used a chisel to achieve the sharply defined features of her beautiful face. For the shiny surfaces, he has sanded them smooth and then heated the stone and applied clear wax, then polished them up to a high gloss. He has used a grinder to create the swirling fabric of her skirt. He has picked out the detail of her hair with a narrow tungsten carbide chisel; he’s used a wider chisel for the bands on her dress. He rasped the base for a matte finish of thousands of tiny striations.
The use of contrasting textures and finishes is very typical of the Shona sculpture movement as a whole.
Springstone is the local name for a hard variety of serpentine stone. It is grey in its natural form; using a chisel, rasp or chasing hammer etc. creates a lighter matte finish; applying clear wax gives it a ‘wet look’ that’s black and shiny.
Imperial measurements are:
21 3/10″ x 9 2/5″ x 5 9/10″ and weight 16 1/2lbs
UK clients are welcome to collect from us in Hertfordshire, or arrange a viewing by appointment, or contact us to purchase.
We offer worldwide shipping via tracked courier in a fully lined made-to-measure crate.
Overseas clients please email us for a shipping quote;
remember to include your delivery address (including post/zip code) and contact phone number.
