Curator’s comment by
Mandy Conidaris
Keith Makombora is qualified in interior design and works for an interior architecture practice. Like many young creatives, Keith developed a longing to express himself in a more reflective way through artmaking, and he began painting. Self-taught, he had produced most of this body of work solo, with little input.
I met Keith through a friend who asked me to look at his artwork. We talked, and I was immediately impressed with his thinking and the way he was managing to integrate his design experience into his new journey as a fine artist.
He spoke of how he – and many of us will feel the same – has the experience of having separate masks for his different life situations: he is the person he is, but acts one way within his traditional family, another with his urban friends, yet another at his sophisticated place of work, and even other ways in other situations, often needing to switch them quickly. He said that sometimes he feels as though he is always changing masks. The daily putting on of different masks is a topic he is currently exploring in new artwork. Similarly, the environments that he exists in shift from situation to situation, and he has a fascination with ancient and contemporary aspects of the African rural and urban creative environments.
Having lived in Zimbabwe, his formal influences include the classical Shona stone sculptures - and some of his paintings have that sense of solitary solidity - as well as the colours and cave paintings of Southern Africa. I see shades of both Alexis Preller in his palette, and Cecil Skotnes in his flat shapes. At the same time, he is also informed visually by the cutting edge, Western design aspect of his daily work in Johannesburg.
Makombora already has a firm, formal, visual foundation to continue building his individual vision through his artmaking. His training has given him a well-developed instinct for composition and colour, and I anticipate that he will continue to use these abilities to explore deeper issues through his art.
Artist’s
Statement
My work explores the historical and contemporary cultural landscapes of Southern Africa, examining the layered influences that have shaped its built environments and the people who inhabit the space. The work is an evolving design language built from fragmented histories, disrupted traditions, and speculative futures. It is an exploration of what could have been, had indigenous African architectural and artistic practices evolved without interruption, and what can still be, as we reconcile lost knowledge with contemporary realities.
Central to this exploration is the psychological relationship between people and the spaces they inhabit. Colonial-era urban planning and architecture continue to shape how African communities view themselves in relation to their environments, often prioritizing external ideals over indigenous spatial wisdom. My work seeks to reclaim the connection between identity and place reintroducing design principles that affirm cultural heritage, emotional well-being, and environmental harmony.
African sculpture, art, and architecture serve as primary sources of inspiration, expressed through a structured, geometric, and linear visual language. My background in interior architecture allows me to translate these narratives into visual compositions plans, elevations, and crosssections that explore the intersections of culture, identity, and space.
The works are painted in acrylic, incorporating warm ochre, brown, and yellow pigments colours that reference both the earth and gold. These colours echo prehistoric cave paintings found across Zimbabwe and South Africa, reinforcing a connection between past and present while acknowledging the layered influences that continue to shape our aesthetic and social landscape.
Detail from Hunter 200
Currents and Currencies
Size 90 x 60 cm (h x w)
Digging Humanity
Size 40 x 40 cm (h x w)
