Ayakha Indlela Yokuxola

Lulama Wolf (b. 1993) is a visual artist who lives and works in Johannesburg, South Africa.

At the intersection of Neo-Expressionism and Modern African Art, Wolf interrogates the pre-colonial African experience through the contemporary mind by using smearing, scraping, and deep pigment techniques that were used in vernacular architecture, and the patterns created largely by women to decorate traditional African homes.

"My work carries my spirit, before it carries a message. My intuition plays a vital role in the direction I go and then I compartmentalise with what I prioritise. I represent different parts of my self including abstraction, curiosity, mythology, spirituality and introspection. Blackness is vital in my work because it is created by a black woman despite the medium or language it speaks, it is vital because proof of existence is rare in the black community, information is shared but isn’t sustained in ways that are knowledgeable to us right now. I express my yearning for answers and clarity in ways that make my blackness clear even when the work is abstract. My practice embodies subtlety in a form of texture and expression, a curious mix of ambiguity and curiosity. I experiment with different textures and moulds that are formed from the earth."

Lulama Wolf’s practice is formulated by lines that rise and fall smoothly to create lithe bodies in space – bending, contorting, carrying, standing, and moving. Wolf’s depicted bodies indicate a world beyond themselves and signal towards broader themes and processes. Traversing both the personal and the political, the Johannesburg-based artist engages themes of African spirituality within a contemporary context and merges that with colour theory influenced by traditional South African, vernacular architecture and indigenous rock art. In addition to her studio practice, Wolf is known for her profound interest in design and fields that weave themselves into her sensibility of creating meticulously bold yet minimal paintings.

Within her artistic practice, Wolf is influenced by both spiritual and art historical forerunners, citing the late Zulu diviner and author, Vusamazulu Credo Mutwa, and South African visual artists, Helen Sebidi and Ernest Mancoba, as key influences. The effect of Mancoba’s lucid abstraction and Sebidi's intricate storytelling are visible in her work as demonstrated in the painting.

She was the finalist of the Emergence Art Prize hosted by THK Gallery (2020). Group exhibitions include Rendevous 2, SMITH Gallery, Cape Town (2018); Apartment Vol 2, the fourth gallery, Cape Town (2020); Boulevard D’Aguliion, Undiscovered Canvas, Antibes (2020), Reflect, Reimagine, Reset, THK Gallery, Cape Town (2020), and 1-54 at Christies, Paris.

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