Using discarded plastic packaging and roofing materials, an internationally famed artist is creating his glorious collages in Johannesburg. The tools of this local artist’s trade are second-hand plastic and a heat gun.

Mbongeni Buthelezi recycles plastic waste into art, tearing off strips of colour and melting them onto a home-made plastic canvas.

How it’s done

“The way I do my work is that I collect plastics, recycled plastics, from retail shops, garages, and so on. I bring them back into my studio here. This is the process of producing this art,” Buthelezi says.

“I stretch white roofing plastic over a wooden frame. On top of that I start building up images with different colours. For someone who has never seen my work, the easiest way to describe it is that it is like collage. I use different layers to create an image.”

This busy Johannesburg city garage is one place Buthelezi goes to collect plastic – especially soft-drinks and beer packaging. Then, at his studio in Selby Buthelezi sorts through his plastic cache to select the right colours for his palette. He then starts melting the strips of plastic onto his recycled canvas to create the image.

International acclaim

The Johannesburg Art Gallery hosted Buthelezi’s mid-career retrospective in 2011. Musha Neluheni, the gallery’s curator of contemporary collections, sees parallels between the artist’s work and that of the old masters.

“They do become almost like oil paintings because he melts them down to a point where they’re very malleable, and you can really do almost anything with it. He’s quite specific in the choice of what plastics he uses, because things melt at different temperatures, and if you look at his more abstract work, that’s where you really see a connection to works like oil paintings by abstract expressionists,” Neluheni said.

Buthelezi’s work has been exhibited in the United States, Canada, and Europe. He’s represented South Africa at the Cairo and Prague biennales as well as both Johannesburg biennales. The artist says he draws inspiration from the nearby township and city street life.

“The painting behind me is a work that was inspired by two boys that I saw pushing this wire car along the street in Soweto. I wanted to do a small drawing, but I couldn’t because I was fast losing the action. So I just pulled out my cellphone, took this picture, brought it back into my studio, and started working on it. I liked the movement. People in the images looked happy – children enjoying themselves,” Buthelezi said.

Buthelezi began working with recycled plastics in 1991. As a student he couldn’t afford traditional paint, so began experimenting with plastic waste instead. Since then, he’s honed his plastic art skills and now co-owns a gallery in Johannesburg’s Da Vinci Hotel.

 

Source: CCTV.com