VISUAL artist Bernard Sakarombe says his artistry revolves around transmitting cultural values through stone images.
Sakarombe works from the Tsindi Gallery in the capital, which has been his base for more than 20 years.
He is part of the generation of sculptors who have developed their trade from using hand electric tools.
A product of seasoned and renowned sculptors like Washington Musonza, Jonathan Mhondoro, the late Crispen Jumbe and Lameck Bonjisi, Sakarombe prefers working on huge monuments to smaller busts for the purposes of soliciting opinions or raising awareness.
“My creativity revolves around the figure of a woman such as responsibilities of a mother at home, women in leadership, beauty and other topical issues that people always dialogue about,” he told NewsDay Life & Style.
Sakarombe, who also has an adorable fine touch on animals and creations, nurtured and refined his Shona art from his upbringing in Tandi rural area in Rusape.
“Culture is dynamic and people’s conversations are always centred on what could be the best way around a problem,” he noted.
The majority of Sakarombe’s works are on average four metres long or more and throughout the length, his images are rich with detail and clarity of expressions.
His African Bride piece speaks volumes about preparedness when a girl child plans to leave her parents to get married and start a new life.
Details surrounding the African Bride show ornaments, luggage, kitchen utensils, foodstuffs and a lot of composure. The posture of the lengthy piece and the authoritative and calm face are all expressions of a journey into an unknown world.
Sakarombe’s stunning Mother and Daughter Protection steals attention through the highly visible effort on detail such as hairstyles, the smooth skin on hands and legs while the natural rough texture breaks monotony.
The shiny particles add glamour and are synonymous with the beauty ascribed to women in general. Mother and Daughter Protection is a green opal statuette that is well polished to reveal a conducive ambience for a fruitful dialogue between mother and daughter.
The piece also points out that getting closer to a child is not only attained through provision of material things but engaging them in conversation and listening to their opinions and visions for the future.
“Teenage girls tend to cause friction in the family due to outside pressures that emerge from peers and just a sense of adventure. This is when Mother and Daughter Protection comes in.
“Queen of Africa is a granite piece that reflects my commitment to lift appreciation of African beauty. The Europeans and the developed world at large hail their beautiful female models as princesses, mermaids and the like to express their own sense of beauty and adoration. Africans, likewise, should nurture and groom or restore their own feelings about beauty,” he challenged.
Sakarombe appreciates technological advancements in sculpturing through usages of modern tools such as grinders, cutting discs, sanders, chippers and many others, which have enabled him and his visual art colleagues to engrave hard stones like granite.
Sakarombe, like other visual artists, is longing for an investor who brings on the market tools that enable artists to work on hard stones without wearing out fast.
