Andile Dyalvane is a contemporary ceramic designer, his clay sculpted into forms that convey an earthly beauty. Displaying a celebration of the everyday and carrying forward traditional influences in ceramics, along with a connection to the cultural heritage of Africa. Contemporary, Dyalvane’s pieces also imbue a sense of the past along with artistic influences such as cubism. In the series Africasso, Dyalvane shows influences of Picasso whilst combining a sense of Africa’s past through folklore stories told to him by his grandmother.
Incredibly versatile, Dyalvane’s style of sculpting is ever changing so as to best carry his thoughts and emotions across to the viewer. That doesn’t mean to say there isn’t a clear voice within his work – a love of South Africa from its landscapes to urban cities. It’s also apparent that Dyalvane immerses himself into each of his pieces, his artwork showing a high level of attentiveness that only comes when passionately working with what you love. Dyalvane’s attention to detail and open perspective allows him to see what people miss in the everyday; transforming what’s perceived as ugly, such as the mechanics of an ever expanding city and one that’s filled with the steel outlines of cranes and working docks – to turning it into something that can be beautiful, such as in his series; Views.
‘Views from the Studio,’ 2011. Views Collection. Andile Dyalvane. Imiso Ceramics.
Instagram @andiledyalvane
Scarification, is also an area that Dyalvane has carefully conveyed, displaying within his art the Xhosa tradition whereby the creation and forming of scars on a person’s skin acts as a rite of passage, a sign of lineage and sometimes to protect them from evil spirits and harmful energies. In showing respect to this practice, Dyalvane has created the series Scarified; where fine lines cut around or along the length of the ceramic form, symbolising the scarification of cuts to the body. There’s also the marking of outward patterns like repeating burns or markings, their design forming a sort of geometry that links to one another – possibly a reference to the strength of these communities and their culture.
Tall Vase, 2019, Scarified Collection. Andile Dyalvane. Imiso Ceramics.
Instagram @andiledyalvane
There is within Dyalvane’s art a style of geometric abstraction and minimalism, his experimentation within the medium making it fresh and invigorating, so as you can’t wait to see what comes out of the kiln. Furthermore, there’s also a running thread between Dylvane’s pieces, that of moving between excitement for the future and a preservation of the past, his work never concentrating on one over the other, but at a perfect equilibrium.
Dyalvane also believes in using his art to help others, whether through conservation awareness, support to charity or in passing on his knowledge and experience to other artists. If you have a chance to see his work in person, don’t miss it.
