Meet Omolemo Rammile, runner-up of the Sasol New Signatures 2022 competition. She chats about her piece called Mére célibataire (single mom).
Tell us about your artistic journey up until the point of entering Sasol New Signatures 2022.
I have loved drawing and being creative from a very young age. There was no art at school, and I couldn’t be as creative, or learn more about art as I would have loved to, so immediately after my matric, I promised myself to give my artistic self a chance. That’s where my journey with art began. I completed my Diploma in Design and Studio art at the Central University of Technology in Bloemfontein and have since been creating art, commissions and featuring in local pop-up exhibitions. I’m currently studying for my Advanced Diploma in Studio art.
Who has had the biggest influence on your career as an artist to date?
My work is not influenced by a specific person but rather my own life experiences, environment and how I make sense of all that happens. Moments, observed scenes and emotions are reflected in my creations.
Why did you create the piece you submitted?
I created this work late last year as part of my multimedia drawing project. My mother always kept bread tags in a box and told me I could use them one day for my art. When I was creating my multimedia artwork, my lecturer said, “think outside of the box,” and I immediately thought about the bread tags she kept. I somehow tried to find a way of connecting the bread tags to my mother to formulate a concept.
This work made me start reflecting on my upbringing, my mother’s tremendous role, and all the efforts she made. That’s when I realized that the bread tags symbolize the sacrifice she has made as a single mother raising me together with my sister; hence there are two embossings. I created this work to honour and pay tribute to my mother, all mothers, single parents and breadwinners that put their life’s desires on hold to feed families and provide for them. It comments on the seen yet unseen sacrifices that are normalized.
With the embossing imprints, I aimed to highlight the lasting impact and mark the sacrifices have on their families. This work is quite personal to me, and being able to share my story with South Africa is really what I think is the beauty of it all.
When people view your work – what response are you hoping to create?
I hope to broaden people’s mind’s after they view my work and try to make them see life differently and appreciate it more. I want people to see and believe in the beauty of life and art. Through my work, I want to make people learn to romanticize their daily struggles and make them realize that their labours, expenditures, and efforts matter and do have an impact.
Which local artists do you admire and why?
I admire Ennock Mlangeni. I love his style of art and his work ethic. I like the fact that he explores different mediums in each of his pieces and how he uses any material he finds, like coffee and newspapers, to create his masterpieces.
Details: www.sasolsignatures.co.za
