Shani

Shani was born in Harrismith, South Africa in 1975. At the age of 4, she moved to Durban where she was exposed to the Zulu Nation and its culture. She became fascinated with the infleunce that the Western World has had on tribal culture and because of this fascination, she eventually depicted the influence of the West on Africa in a collect ion of oil paintings. 

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In 1990, Shani moved to Johannesburg where she matriculated in 1992. She studied art at school but is mainly self-taught. After matriculating, she moved back to Durban where she supported herself through her art while she went on to study photography at Technikon Natal. 

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By 1995 - the year her daughter was born - Shani was well-acquainted with the usual art forms such as drawing, painting, print-making, sculpture and mosaics. She became intrigued with living, moving art; so she added another medium to her repertoire by apprenticing in the art of tattooing and became a tattoo artist. She went on to produce a collection inspired by different tattoo styles. 

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In 2001, Shani moved back to Johannesburg where she currently resides. 

Her works have mainly featured her abhorrence fo injustice, planetary awareness and her love of trees, fun and frivally and abstract subjects - the likes of thought, emotion and philosphy. When her sister passed away in 2016, Shani’s work took on another dimension as it helped her heal. Life and death, her understanding of the eternal cycle of life and her coming to terms with loss started to feature in her work. She often uses her sister as the subject of these works. 

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Shani believes that life is serious business and should therefore be taken seriously; but one should never, ever be serious about it! She portrays this philosophy in all her works.