patrick seruwu

about the artist:

Patrick Seruwu is a Ugandan born artist based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Patrick was the 2019 recipient of the Johann Stegmann mentorship program which lead to his first solo exhibition with Lizamore & Associates in 2020. He produced this body of work through 2019-2020, with guidance and mentorship from acclaimed artist Kagiso Pat Mautloa and gallerist Teresa Lizamore.

Seruwu’s works carries the strength of women, acknowledging and honoring the powerful characteristics he sees in his mother who raised him.

He uses charcoal, and acrylic paint on canvas applied in the form of a wash. The washes signify the harsh truths that women have to continually wash away to forget daily experiences they undergo in order to move on. Seruwu allows the paint to drip as a metaphor, not only for the women’s’ tears of sadness, but also to celebrate their tears of joy and success. The portraits take on the shape of busts, which idolizes eternal youth and the strength of ancient Roman and Greek statues - standing proud like pillars of strength. The colour palette of sepia and pink is a reflection of time required for healing. It is a representation of womanhood and passing time as in the colour of old photographs or that of aging and rusted material.

“These Greek and Roman statues signifies the strength of the depicted figures but whilst I draw inspiration from this, the idolization of the women in my paintings are instead a more truthful representation of the real and everyday lives that women lead. The emotions of women captured in my works is a very sensitive issue around the world. Johannesburg is a cosmopolitan city that globally attracts people in search of work, from diverse social, political, and cultural backgrounds. It is especially within this multicultural work scarce, and overpopulated environment of Johannesburg, where I see the strength of women in my daily life.”