Artists

Born in1974 in Bethal, South Africa, Usha Seejarim lives and works in Johannesburg, South Africa. Usha Seejarim was born in 1974 in Bethal, South Africa, and she currently lives and works in Johannesburg, South Africa. Seejarim received a B-Tech Degree in Fine Art from the University of Johannesburg in 1999 and a Master’s Degree in Fine Art at the University of The Witwatersrand (WITS) in 2008, both in Johannesburg, South Africa. Most recently, Seejarim’s site-specific artwork, Sounds of Sibikwa was nominated for Design Indaba’s Most Beautiful Object in South Africa award in 2019. Earlier awards include: the SCAC Marestaing & The Secular Solidarity Association Sculpture Award at the Dakar Biennale, Dakar, Senegal; and the Tomorrow’s/ Today Prize, at the Investec Cape Town Art Fair in Cape Town, South Africa, both in 2018; the Mercedes-Benz Award for Public Art in 2008; the Ampersand Fellowship Award, New York City, USA in 2003; and the inaugural MTN New Contemporaries Exhibition Award (joint winner) in 2001. In early 2021, Radisson Red Hotel revealed Seejarim’s newest sculpture The Mundane and the Mystical, as part of the opening for the new Johannesburg location. In the same year, Seejarim also presented Angel of the house, a solo exhibition at SMAC Gallery in Cape Town, South Africa. Further selected solo exhibitions include: Vessel of the Fish at Witte de With Centre for Contemprary Arts in Rotterdam, Netherlands (2020); Un balai, pourquoi pas une balai, following her 2-month residency at SCAC Marestaing in Montes - quieuVolvestre, France; and Transgressing Power, at SMAC Gallery in Johannesburg, South Africa, both in 2019; Keepers of the Common at the Investec Cape Town Art Fair in Cape Town, South Africa (2018); Reasons for descending the staircase at Fried Contemporary in Pretoria, South Africa in 2017; and Venus at Home - a travelling exhibition presented at the Durban Art Gallery, Kwazulu Natal, South Africa, NWU Gallery at the Northwest University in Potchefstroom, South Africa, the Johannesburg Art Gallery (JAG) in Johannesburg, South Africa and the Atherstone Gallery at National Arts Festival in Grahamstown, South Africa (2015-2012).

The artwork is an assemblage of reclaimed frame mouldings and reclaimed ironing bases. The layered iron bases extend beyond the ornate frame suggestive of going beyond the parameters. She speaks her mind thus refers to cultural expectations of holding one’s tongue, or keeping the peace and of conformity. Here the artwork encourages her to be outspoken, to be heard, and for her to speak up and speak out. The specificity of the materials; both frame and iron bases are contextual to the domestic space of the home, and therefore the position of woman within this space and how she chooses to navigate this relationship. While it is a wall piece and is clearly framed, the artwork is sculptural in nature and further questions art historical modes of format and medium.