Nandipha mntambo torero performance picture vehicles

I choose to create work in cowhide; this material is one that has historical associations and is linked to my cultural background in various ways but through my use of it, exists and is considered within a context that is also removed from these aspects.

Subjective views of the significance of this material, drawn from the past but with reference to the present, impact on both understanding and engagement with the work I create.

My artistic creation is always greatly informed by the process leading up to the final art piece.

I thus choose to purchase my material as raw as possible in order to fully engage with the amount of influence I have over the final product. My intention is to explore the physical and tactile properties of hide and aspects of control that allow or prevent me from manipulating this material in the context of the female body and contemporary art.

I have used cowhide as a means to subvert expected associations with corporeal presence, femininity, sexuality an