Zizipho Poswa Translates the Message of Her People into Ceramics

Zizipho Poswa’s Stunning Ceramics Reference Xhosa Heritage

Standing in front of a work by Zizipho Poswa is an arresting encounter. Already surprisingly large in scale, the ceramic pieces are often displayed on pedestals, towering over the viewer, and allowing for a conversation between form and body. Hand-coiled, closed vessels are topped with horns (in cast bronze), loops, or cones. Surfaces are textured matte, with rich drips of glossy glaze in red, cobalt blue, yellow, and silver. They feel of this time and of the past, of this place and elsewhere.

Based in Cape Town, South Africa, Poswa pulls from her Xhosa heritage to create series like “Umthwalo,” “Magodi,” and “iLobola,” which reference the experiences of women in her culture balancing great loads on their head, sporting elaborate hairstyles, and offering the traditional dowry. Her work is respectful and celebratory, but also inquisitive and contemporary. Her practice is a way to engage with the past while carving out her own place in the future.

Whitewall spoke with Poswa about how her practice is a way to engage with the past while carving out her own place in the future.

WHITEWALL: We were so struck by seeing your work for the first time in person at Design Miami/ in 2021. Can you tell us about those pieces?

ZIZIPHO POSWA: Those are part of my first works that I made with Southern Guild, “Umthwalo.” It was my first time doing large-scale work, and it was exciting. I went home to the Eastern Cape, and it dawned on me that who is extraordinary in my life are the women around me who raised me, the matriarchs. I was raised by strong, powerful women—my mother, my aunts, my grandmothers, the community as a whole. I’m inspired by their struggles, their triumphs, and I wanted to honor them for their resilience and power and strength. That was how it was born. It’s a collection that I keep on exploring.

WW: They are such monumental pieces. How did you arrive at that scale?

ZP: My business partner, Andile Dyalvane, had a solo show he worked on for which we purchased this massive kiln. While he was working, I was thinking I had to do something. Immediately, I connected to my ancestors. It came through my dream. The message was there. I needed to just relate it. In our studio, we’ve got a space that is dedicated to our ancestors. It’s important for us to communicate and connect, and each day we make sure that we give thanks, we acknowledge them. In my culture, you’re not alone; you are always with your people. Where we come from, our structures are built in a circular form. There’s a reason for that, and we’ve taken that into our space. It’s a modern space, but we can always transform it into what we want, and for us that connects us to home.

Zizipho Poswa Dreams in Color

WW: You mentioned your dreams. Is that where you find the shape, color, and texture in your work?

ZP: Yes, definitely. I think I dream in color. I think my world is so colorful that anything that I see, even if it’s a form, it will be a form with color. It’s something that comes with the dreams and the messages that I get.

WW: Is that a practice you had to build, remembering dreams?

ZP: It stays in my subconscious. I will sit and plan. If I plan and I say, “Okay, I’m going to create a form like this and going to have a yellow,” it never translates to that when I make it. It’s beyond me; it’s something that I also can’t explain because it comes from my people. I’m just a vessel, and I’m translating the messages into the work.

Varied Techniques Make Up Zizipho Poswa’s Practice

WW: You employ a variety of techniques, like coiling and wheel throwing. Can you tell us about your process?

ZP: I work with a team of two production assistants, and we’ve got a master thrower. We work as a team. It’s important to coil, because for the scale, it needs to be strong. And for throwing any smaller works, there are different techniques. The finishes that I want to achieve are guided by the technique that I’m using.

I work across the board. Even with clay I use different types of clay, terra cotta, stoneware, and charcoal clay. I enjoy that because each one brings a certain type of finish, depending on what I’m using in terms of the glazes as well.

WW: You’ve also incorporated bronze into some of the works. What was that like?

ZP: Bronze is a beautiful material. I’m really attached to it. The work I’m doing now is going to have bronze. I love how it takes on the textures I was looking to achieve. The idea of bronze came because, since I’ve been working with clay, clay was going to be fragile as the shape of a horn. For the horn, we needed something that was going to be strong and detachable and that was going to add value to the work. It was amazing. I want to explore glass as well, but I feel like bronze is going to work well for this next collection.

WW: What are you working on at the moment?

ZP: I’m already in the beginning stages. I’m working on the maquettes. It’s a body of work about traditional African hairstyles. I’m going deeper into that and really looking at the art of making the hair, the history of it, the craft, the detail. The making of it is very meditational. It’s something that is close to my heart. It’s also about beauty and love.