Colleen Madamombe

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Colleen Madamombe (* 1964 ; † May 31, 2009 ) was a sculptor from Zimbabwe .

biography

Colleen Madamombe attended school in Kutama, Zimbabwe, from 1979 to 1984. She studied sculpture for three years at the Chapungu Sculpture Park in Harare , where she learned about the work of professional sculptors such as: B. that of her adored Agnes Nyanhongo , as well as at the National Art Gallery of Zimbabwe .

She did everything she could to encourage young women sculptors: “ I ask you women to work as sculptors as well as men. I know it's hard when you're married. Most men don't want their wives to be equal sculptors. I was married and my husband was a sculptor. I am now divorced and I am caring for my seven children. But that's fine. "(July 2004)

As a successful representative of the second generation of modern sculptors in Zimbabwe, she traveled around the world with exhibitions of her works, but her permanent residence remained in Harare , where she died in May 2009 at the age of 45.

style

Colleen Madamombes big theme was the self-confident, proud African woman to be developed. Her depictions of women with children in particular have an almost 'expansive' motherliness and are full of cheerful humor in their everyday situations . Her sculptures, mostly chiseled from black springstone ( serpentine ) or opal, play with the contrast of rough, richly ornamented surfaces for the typical billowing skirts - or z. B. the shopping baskets - and black polished surfaces for faces and hands. She often leaves parts of the outer shell of a stone, made of a brown mineral, in a virtuoso manner, so that they form decorative patterns such as large flowers, butterflies or hearts. Typical titles: "I know my way" and "Proud with my dress".

There is little influence of other sculptors on Colleen Madamombe's work; she herself particularly admired the works of Tapfuma Gutsa and Cosmos Muchenjes.

meaning

Colleen Madamombe has reached an exceptional level of success for Zimbabwean women in a traditionally male dominated society. Her work focuses on the changing role of women in modern African society . Her realistic sculptures , through their direct address, create a direct connection between great art and people in the countryside, not least for the women in the rural areas of Zimbabwe, who identify with them directly . Her work “The Birth” received a lot of attention at the Expo 2000 in Hanover . Colleen Madamombe was a member of the “ Friends Forever ” artists' association and regularly took part in their group exhibitions in the capitals of America and Europe. Her work is an indispensable part of any collection of modern Zimbabwean sculpture .

swell

  • Contemporary Master Sculptors of Zimbabwe . Friends Forever (Pvt) Ltd., Ruwa Zimbabwe 2007, ISBN 978-0-7974-3527-8 (English).
  • Master sculptor from Zimbabwe . Berlin 2006, (exhibition catalog), PDF (English).
  • Prominent Sculptors of Zimbabwe: Agnes Nyanhongo and Colleen Madamombe . Chapungu Sculpture Park, Harare 1995, (exhibition catalog: Launch venu, 9th December 1995 - 17th March 1996, Imba Yematombo Exhibition Arena, Chapungu Sculpture Park, Harare, Zimbabwe), (English).
  • Olivier Sultan: Life in Stone. Zimbabwean Sculpture. Birth of a Contemporary Art Form . Baobab Books, Harare 1999, ISBN 1-77909-023-4 (English).
  • Celia Winter-Irving: Stone Sculpture in Zimbabwe. Context, content and form . Roblaw Publishers, Harare 1991, ISBN 978-0-908309-11-5 (English).

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Madamombe, Colleen
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Zimbabwean sculptress
DATE OF BIRTH 1964
DATE OF DEATH May 31, 2009