We reached out to artists whose work we admire and asked them about their artistic journeys, current projects and the ideas that drive their practice. 

In this series, we spotlight the unique approaches of contemporary artists, offering them a platform to share insights into their artistic process, ongoing work, and the parameters that define their practice.

Billie Zangewa creates intricate collages composed of hand-stitched fragments of raw silk. These figurative compositions explore contemporary intersectional identity in an attempt to challenge the historical stereotype, objectification, and exploitation of the black female form. Beginning her career in the fashion and advertising industries, Zangewa employs her understanding of textiles to portray personal and universal experiences through domestic interiors, urban landscapes, and portraiture. Her earliest works were embroideries on found fabrics depicting remembered botanical scenes and animals from Botswana, where the artist was raised, but she soon transitioned to creating cityscapes, focusing on her experience as a woman in the city of Johannesburg and her personal relationships.

After the birth of her son, Zangewa began making her well-known domestic interiors to explore the shift in focus from self-examination and femininity to motherhood and the home. Often referencing scenes or experiences from everyday life, Zangewa has stated that she is interested in depicting the work done by women that keeps society running smoothly but which is often overlooked, undervalued, or ignored. Zangewa refers to this as “daily feminism.”

1. Your exhibition, ‘Breeding Ground’ at the Norval Foundation, is a powerful exploration of nurturing and care. Can you share the journey and process of putting it together?

The journey to realizing the show was a very long one, with many conversations with many people trying to make it happen. It had been in the works for years, and I had actually given up on it because it just wasn’t coming together. At some point, things aligned and it came to fruition. 

2. How do you view the evolution of your work over the years, especially concerning the ways you’ve engaged with themes of femininity, leisure and resilience? 

The first thing is that you can absolutely see when I became a mother – no time for obsessing over details as I did in works like ‘Call of the Wild. ’ I had to make the most of the time I had, but I always say necessity is the mother of invention. My work now is more abstract but still based on considered drawing and I’ve incorporated some drawings and mirrors as well to add to my practice. I actually really enjoyed the reunion with my earlier works through this new exhibition at Norval. 

3. In recent years, tapestries and woven works have seen a resurgence, gaining new relevance in the global art world. Given your own practice in silk collage, how do you see the contemporary moment of tapestry-making and weaving? 

I think it all comes down to the collective unconscious creating a movement, but also, let’s keep in mind that individual artists are drawn to textiles for different and very personal reasons. It wasn’t a consideration for me. I just went with god’s plan for me, and it happened to be silk. And, ofcourse, identity and female traditions are motivators for me.

My medium of choice is ever more a pleasure for me to engage with. I feel that the more I work with it, the more of its secrets it shares with me. I’m still preoccupied with everyday life and experience, but my approach has shifted, and the power of silk dictates more. I’m surrendering to it.

4. Your collaborations with Dior and Louis Vuitton have seamlessly merged your distinctive artistic vision with the world of high fashion. How did each of these projects—creating the Monsieur Dior work and designing the LV Artycapucines bag—allow you to explore and expand the relationship between contemporary African art and luxury fashion? 

I have been a lover of fashion most of my life. Vogue magazine has given me hope in times of struggle, hopelessness and despair, and I’ve always prioritized buying it in times of financial limitations because I knew that it would give me fuel. Fashion is not about image for me; it’s about creating dreams. So working with Dior and Louis Vuitton was not about status for me but about engaging with a creative realm I’ve admired my whole life. Making a portrait of Christian Dior was pleasurable because of my admiration for him, and collaborating with LV on a bag literally took me back to my roots when I made bags as a young artist. A brand collaboration has to be meaningful for me and not just a PR exercise.

5. Philosophically, conceptually, or otherwise, what do you believe art is for? 

Art is for many things depending on how it is approached, created and consumed. It can be political, a way to document, give pleasure, or call attention to issues, but I believe, most importantly, it is a source of power for the artist creating the work.