Andile Dyalvane is Guided by 'Ancestral Whispers'

Friedman Benda presents a new body of work by South African artist, healer, and spiritual leader Andile Dyalvane. In a series of textural and vibrant vessels, the exhibition renders a visual language of strength and courage. Imagining tradition and possibility through craft, Dyalvane weaves collective history and contemporary narrative to make anew.

Each vessel of OoNomathotholo: Ancestral Whispers tells a story. The title conjures generational knowledge, highlighting Xhosa connections to land through the vessels, a nod to pots used to store memories in a display of rich textures and vibrant colors. Each piece is made from clay drawn from the rivers near the village of Ngobozanza, the artist’s birthplace in the Eastern Cape.

Punctuated with knobs and scores, the artist joins Xhosa practices of scarification with structural collapse, a metaphor for resilience in the face of personal and collective grief. Created in the wake of his brothers’ deaths, Dyalvane looked to clay to process emotions. ‘There was something to draw from that first moment of collapse. After that, I began to create an intentional accident — and that’s not possible,” he tells Designboom. “The way that I was tearing them and moving them, it was me expressing the grief that I was feeling. So intentionally, I had them cracked at the bottom.”

In 2020, the artist created 100 pots given to 100 homes as a way of remembering “the souls, the sounds, and the ancient smells of their parents’ way of being.” He embraces of community and connection, giving rise to the beauty of “intentional accidents.” At an intersection of personal loss and separation from ancestral lands, Dyalvane looks to sculptural forms to pave a path of collective healing.

OoNomathotholo: Ancestral Whispers is now on view at Friedman Benda through November 2, 2024.

Friedman Benda
515 W 26th St 1st Floor,
New York, NY 10001