On Thursday, 23 March 2023, multidisciplinary artist Karabo Maine, based in Gaborone, Botswana showcased his latest and older pieces of works. Titled The Open Studio, the exhibition was held in partnership with Bullsheep Creative Studios. Avid art patrons and dignitaries in the capital city were invited for an exclusive viewing of the works while engaging with the work in the space it’s created. The wider local art and creative community also came to show support and celebrate the artist.

 “It’s in these experiments that I give myself permission to intentionally play, and give the necessary attention and respect to my subject, by articulating detailed hair and engaging facial expressions.” Said Karabo Maine.

In describing his work, the artist said, “I’m interested in painting and drawing imagined black and brown characters in the context of portraiture. I appreciate that this process is performative, a one person show where the subject dresses up and has agency in their own image making. They allow for their likeness to be reproduced and represented. My characters aren’t people in the real world but a combination of different facial references. By giving them Setswana and Sotho names, I hint at narrative without actually giving it.”

The work is predominantly large in scale and utilises a variety of hues on the color spectrum. The process of painting his imagined people is mostly intuitive and the only real planning is creating a face, projecting it onto canvas, tracing it and filling in the ink outline with acrylic paint. The choices that he does make are informed by my experiences and personal history.

Bullsheep Creative Studios looks forward opportunities to host artists as we strive to continue nurturing relationships with the expanding art and creative community in Botswana.