Luzibo Tabona Moyo: Vocalist, Writer and Painter
She learned ballet dancing at a young age. She is an Afro-soul singer, a performer and one of the lead vocalists for the Bulawayo-based world-renowned imbube/iscathamiya group Black Umfolosi. Her legion of music fans knows her as Luchi Shiki. She has penned and published two novellas titled Something Evil, and The Shades and Hues of Love and Lust. However, still missing from the public domain is this multi-talented individual’s painting practice, an aspect this conversation attempts to shed light on.
Your online presence is impressive. I feel your painting practice is overshadowed by your musical career.
This is because I started pursuing music before painting. I have always been practicing music since I was in my teens. As such, I have a larger following for my music side than the visual arts one. I studied fine art at Bulawayo Polytechnic and Siphulwazi Arts Academy. And so, I have always been learning art, but somehow not practicing it. I only became a resident artist at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe in Bulawayo in March of 2021. I am slowly building something, learning from the experience, and enjoying the journey. I am in no hurry at all. The time will come for my art to be the focus.
You seem so drawn to figuration, principally of the female form. Are these faces of real people, or they exist somewhere in your imagination?
I love portraits. I love painting human beings. In fact, it is the reason I wanted to pursue fine art. It is what drew me to art, and I am deeply connected to the practice. There was a lady who used to paint outside Meikles in the central business district of Bulawayo. She had these beautiful portraits she did on canvas, in oil or acrylic. I was too young to know the medium at the time, but she sparked something in me. Even as I pursue my art, I am drawn to facial expressions and human beings as a subject to paint. I love the myriad of expressions that come with the human form. With time I would like to even abstract further. There are so many artists who take portraits, twist them, and turn them into more of illustrations. I enjoy that. However, I am open to expressing myself in different forms of art, even though I will always go back to figuration. I usually paint females because I am one of them. I see the world from the perspective of a female, and the world will always see and judge, and communicate with me as a female because of the body I am experiencing life in. My soul is genderless, but my body is female. So, I will always express my view from a female perspective. Even when I paint males, I will always render a feminine touch. I will always project them from a way of experiencing them as a woman.
Would please you take us through your creative process? How do your ideas end up on the canvas?
There is no single creative formular for me. Sometimes I get inspired and sketch it onto my notebook. I write down a line, either from listening to music or watching a movie, or seeing an act of kindness on the street. The inspiration comes from everywhere. So, I jot them down if I cannot immediately work on them. When I am having a creative block, I always go back to my notes and pursue something that was maybe an idea which I never got a chance to work on. So, there is no laid down creative process for me. I just go with the flow, whatever feels right, whatever feels natural. I do not limit or pressure myself to come up with something perfect immediately. I believe in allowing myself to adjust when necessary. If I liked something today, that does not mean I will like it tomorrow, and that is okay, until I get to a point where I like it as is and I am not going to alter it.
Besides painting, what other form does your work take?
I have dabbled into photography a bit. There was an exhibition on digital art in which we were introduced to different media. Not really introduced perhaps but being reintroduced and expanding on the knowledge we already had. I really enjoy photography and with time I shall work on something in the medium. I am also a musician and at some point, I am also going to mix my paintings and the music. There are so many ideas I have but there is never enough time to execute everything. Otherwise, if it was possible for me to execute every idea the moment it arrives, that would mean I would have like ten or more complete pieces a day. If my hands were as quick as my mind ummh, but it is necessary for us to take time and enjoy the process. It is a process and so much more is born out of it. You can do a sketch and then be inspired to do something else, put it down and finish the other work, and next time you can go back to what had inspired you in that sketch phase. In short, I do a bit of music and photography. It is all going to be visible with time.
What influences your choice of colour?
I mostly turn to the colour wheel. I love going back to basics and see what I can take from there, see what I can break and bend a little, which rules to follow, which ones to break, which rules to bend. I love using bright colours. I am drawn to happy bright saturated colours that really pop out. This is because I want to draw your attention to the piece. I want you to be conned by the colour. When you look at the face, the expression, and the mannerism of the figure that I am painting will force you to look deeper. But the colour forces your eye to doublecheck… ‘Oh what is that red or blue, or that green square right there?’ Then you look back and say ‘Oh it’s a face. What is that face saying to me? What is that facial expression telling me? How do I feel about it? Why did the artist choose to go that direction?’ So, colour is important because it calls the eye before it even starts figuring out shapes and forms.
Does Bulawayo as a city influence your work?
Yes, Bulawayo does influence my work, but mainly my experiences in life do so the most. Sometimes, I get to dream. I get to paint a world that I imagine. I get to make a human being look blue. I get to make them look more rigid, timid and square, almost robotic, but still gentle. So, with my art I tend to dream more and question the reality more, and try to give people space to look at the world in a happier or a different view. That is the beauty of art I believe. It is there even in films. We see it in Marvel and DC Comics where we see these superhero characters with superpowers saving the world. It is a mix of reality and fantasy, almost like some surrealism of a sort. It is an abstraction that is still connected to the world. You can tell it is a face, but you can see it is not a human face that is realistic. So, that is what I enjoy, the ability to dream and ‘fabulate’. I enjoy dreaming of a different Bulawayo, a different human race.
Where do you derive your inspiration from?
I am inspired by life. Anything I see and encounter. It can come from music. The songs I listen to. It can come from other painters. Even before we go to the fact that I am an artist, I am a fan of art. I became an artist by seeing other artists’ work and being drawn to it. I am intrigued, amused and inspired by other artists’ work. Also, my parents, and the stories I hear. That all inspires me.
Which book are you reading?
I have not been reading of late. I must fix that because I really do miss reading. I am super busy running with music and art, but I need a good book so that I can get a little bit more inspiration for my practice. A good book would definitely push me in the right direction.
- Luzibo Tabona Moyo was born in 1997 in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. She practiced ballet dancing, and performed in traditional dance and song, with the biggest influence being her father, Sotja Moyo, the founder of Black Umfolosi. She completed her Advanced Level at Herentals College in 2016, obtained a National Certificate in Fine Art from Siphulwazi Academy in 2018. She graduated with a National Certificate in Applied Art and Design at Bulawayo Polytechnic in 2019. She is currently a resident artist at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe in Bulawayo. Her goal is to avail interior décor art to her community, mentor younger artists, exhibit, illustrate children’s books and create greeting cards for her Batala Unda art brand and company.
- All images supplied by Luzibo Tabona Moyo
