Samantha Maseko,,

Samantha Maseko

Bio

“At the end of the day, black bodies are political…” – Amy Sherald

Samantha Maseko is an Artist Proof Studio graduate whose work wrestles with themes of black
femininity. Her works embody the African American parfait painter’s words , as she unearths and
challenges aspects of blackness clothed in the female form – whether by interrogating hair,
colourism or the sexualisation of the black body, Maseko’s practice oscillates between the mediums
of printmaking, mixed media and painting to communicate her chosen message. There is a single
constant present throughout her many themes and mediums, and that is a need to present
blackness as aesthetically pleasing. This desire to bind representations of the black figure is no
doubt a result of her love for fashion.

While a piece such as Optical Façade I appears to be interrogating the duality of emotions attached
to natural hair in the black community, alluded to in the depictions of a polarized mirroring of
herself wearing a head wrap and with an afro. Even within the palpable uncertainty that exists in
these works, Maseko binds elements of beauty to her representations of blackness. This is evident
in her use of make-up alongside traditional media such as collage and watercolour. The companion
piece Optical Façade II, echoes its sister piece in an expected print medium; this linocut work,
however, does surprise, as the viewer isn’t merely presented with a monochrome copy of the first
piece, but is presented with a crown-like element of elaborate floral-like arrangements of herself;
suggesting that she dresses herself in the beauty of her own skin.

Works such as her acrylic and oil painting on canvas work, Hear no evil, highlight Maseko’s intention
of entangling positivity to images of black people, in this instance this is conveyed through her
depiction of styled black hair, keeping in her thematic use of wearing black hair in its natural state
and it being seen as one’s “crowning glory”. In this work it is evident how she teases out the curls of
her subject’s hair, moulding their hair styles into crowns.

Maseko’s fondness for fashion as a mode of presenting black positivity or pride can also be seen in
paintings such as her, Rebellion and Sense of self, which are depictions of black subjects each
wearing afros and clad in aristocratic finery. The aim of these works are to frame the black
experience within a reality devoid of the weighted negativity of past realities of the black
experience. These are reimagining’s of a past that could have been and which may have been able
to bring about a brighter present. In these examples we are confronted by Maseko’s desire to
elevate reality, not just reproduce it.

The entirety of the Amy Serald quote I used at the beginning of this profile states, “At the end of the
day, black bodies are political, but there has to be some relief from that otherwise we can never
evolve as a people.” These imaginings of a lighter past evident in Maseko’s work strut in step with
this sentiment as Samantha Maseko presents alternatives to the flood of negative narratives
perpetuated through mass media of the black aesthetic.

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