Today we’d like to introduce you to Hlumelo January.
Hi Hlumelo, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
My earliest memory of the context of drawing without an academic influence or obligation,was when I saw my late mother drawing a dress, I remember precisely the design, how she emphasized the pleats by where she chose to place the lines, looking back it was a decent sketch. I remember my young mind being in awe of seeing an adult drawing, I had always assumed it was something one would do at school because they’re required or perhaps as something to pass time as a young one. I often wonder if she knew the seed she planted in 7 year old me that evening, that it would go on to create the visionary I have become, even after she is long gone.
My mother helped shape me abundantly, she enrolled me in art classes as soon as she discovered my love for art, I don’t know how much she knew about art, but looking back I know she knew enough to love it and to encourage me in it.Fast forward to high school, I studied visual arts as a subject, where I failed dismally (lol). During my high school career I had the challenge of experiencing myself as a creative, through this journey I grew to understand what comes naturally to me as a creative. It helped me understand my own style and approach, as well as technique, both professionally and foremost, personally. After managing to pass, refusing to give up, I left high school with alot more insight and experience than my grades could ever reflect and potray. I look back and realize the irony, I was one of the lowest in class but today I have went further than those I was compared to. This for me grew as a testiment to my authenticity and originality, it helped me comprehend that we can have the same destination but arrive through different routes and paths, and to each their own.
It’s been 6 years since that, I have grown in ways I can only credit to something divine and bigger. I have grown from someone who feared contact with her art to someone who has painted on big city walls, has redefined visual arts in black communities, formed her own brand and who has become a living role model for young ones who want to change the world, and the best part is that I haven’t even begun yet… This is truly only the beginning.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Self doubt,has been my biggest challenger but once she and I began to understand one another I have become a force, whenever I am in spaces with other creatives she lightly taps me on the temple and reminds me who I am, that I am 1 of 1,she has grown into self-love.Self confidence.
My following challenge, has to be financial opportunity, finances have been my biggest physical obstacle. Coming from underprivileged communities and trying to create a name for yourself means you work twice as hard as the next artist. Twice as hard to be understood, twice as hard for opportunity, twice as hard to be acknowledged and respected.
Lastly, corruption. I have unfortunately lost alot despite the little I had, from artworks to materials, the tears I have shed continue to water the seeds I sow now.This journey has encouraged me to know that before any other work of art I may produce, I am my first and most important project, I am my first work of art, forever and always.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I refer to myself as a Visual Creative, because I believe limiting myself would be unjust.I am a painter, a drawer, a Muralist, a director(film),founder of a brand, set designer, live painter, event organizer and now I am growing myself in the realm of ceramics. I am anything I want to be.
But my love for art lives in art as an entirity, additionally;I am a performing artist, a poet, vocalist, media presenter, writer and filmmaker. But I wouldn’t hold me to that, because I am forever growing-everyday.
If I had to choose, I’d say I am most proud of my non-profit campaign that provides free visual art sessions for children in disadvantaged backgrounds , such as the ones I am from.From equipping them with basic visual knowledge, providing hands on experience, the sessions are created to encourage social cohesion, mental health benefits and encourage extra-curricular activities in environments that often do not. Simply put, I wanted kids to have a safe space, where their dreams were encouraged and their safety was ensured. It hurt me to see so many young lives influenced by so many factors from poverty, to crime, substance abuse, and being victims of unlawful things as well;the list is endless, I wanted to help hold a space for them to grow, and explore themselves with no pressure of failure. And to teach them how to co-exist with others, teamwork, self belief etc. Which I believe are traits we are in dire need of as black communities. It was crucial for me, for everyone to understand that I was helping shape the minds of tomorrow for the better.
How do you think about luck?
As the English say, “luck is nothing but hardwork that met opportunity”. It goes back to the seeds that have been planted, and at the right time things start to bloom. So it isn’t luck if it is bound to happen-it is a result.
. I will acknowledge though, the fortune that I feel I have been divinely blessed with-I suppose one may refer to it as luck, but I don’t believe in coincidences, for me it means things beyond me have put into place things;as though conspiring for my best interest. But if luck is true, I do not blame it for locating me;I believe I am always meeting the Universe halfway.
Pricing:
- R5000
- R15000
Contact Info:
- Instagram: hlum_hlum_
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hlum.hlumhmm
- Youtube: youtu.be/vcbMUxo9KwQ
