As tho to breathe were life.
In the beginning.
By Nyadzombe Nyampenza
A bald head, and no eyes, nostrils, or ears? Tapfuma Gutsa’s clay sculpture of a boy’s head looks both familiar and strange. The suggestion of a nose bridge indicates the face. Where the lips should have been there is only a dark pinhole.
Boy From Tengenenge is an intriguing and mysterious work. Tengenenge in Korekore means ‘the beginning of the beginning’. In Zimbabwe the name is associated with the Art community founded at a farm by the same name in Guruve. The region has an abundance of serpentine stone, which led to the birth of an art movement in stone sculpture. It is unlikely that the work is a version of Gutsa’s younger self. The artist grew up in Murehwa and studied at the Driefontein Mission School in Mvuma. Such titles are usually inspired by recollection from an actual encounter.
Being raised by a Zimbabwe parent an errant boy would often be scolded for having no eyes, ears, or mouth. It means the child has failed to use common sense. The reference to youth and beginnings gives the work a hopeful outlook.
Gutsa’s boy is detached from the outside world. He exists because he breathes. But the lack of distraction hints at deep introspection and self-awareness.
