About the artist
SHEPHERD NDUDZO. Born in Rusape Zimbabwe now living in Gaberone, Botswana.
His father and well known sculptor, Barnabas Ndudzo , taught Shepherd his initial sculptural techniques, honed to new levels of mastery and imagination. He transforms ironwood (known for its dense, ungiving nature), marble and granite into objects of silken lustre.
Ndudzo has participated in a variety of sculpture Symposiums in the past decade. He has won awards producing the best sculptural piece in various countries. In 2012, he was awarded the prize for sculpture at the Beijing Biennial in China, as well as winning awards in Myanmar and Switzerland. He has travelled to the Ukraine, Cambodia and most recently participated in teaching art students at St. Anselm College, New Hampshire USA.
His carefully honed technique, resulting in tireless hours of labour and determination, enables him to carve ironwood, the hardest known, slow growing wood on the African continent. He transforms this ancient wood into powerful and romantic imagery, defying the weight and density of the material.
Ndudzo’s work explores and celebrates the female form, in both playful and poetic pose. His inspiration is often based on his wife and daughters, but he also explores interpersonal relationships, as well as more universal issues, such as the unfolding tragedy of migrants leaving their countries.
The combination of marble and granite (sourced from Namibia and Zambia) with the rich patina of ancient ironwood, all impenetrable substances, enriches the visual fluidity of the sculptural image. The contrast of dark wood with lighter stone surfaces, and their respective textured patterns allow light and shadow to play with the form, creating movement and energy, defying the static nature of the materials.
Ndudzo’s latest work focusses on large ironwood sculptures capturing daily activities of women caught in gale force winds, conversations between friends, meditation and familial relationships.
Ndudzo’s work is widely collected and is held in the Collections of the National Gallery of Botswana and Zimbabwe, as well as in the World Bank Collection in Washington. His work is in the Johannesburg City Council Collection and the Homestead Collection at the Norval Museum in Cape Town. It is also held in corporate and private Collections in South Africa, USA , UK, France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany China and Russia.