Visual artist Sphumelele Zondi has turned the ordinary act of doing laundry into a meditation on South Africa’s history, social struggles and the burdens passed from one generation to the next through her powerful mixed-media work.
Zondi, 26, is the winner of the 2026 Sasol New Signatures Visual Arts Competition for her work titled, "The Laundry of a Nation".
The accolade comes with a R100 000 cash prize and the opportunity to present her first solo exhibition at the Pretoria Art Museum in 2027.
Born in KwaZulu-Natal and now based in Johannesburg, Zondi works primarily in sculpture and mixed media.
Her practice explores memory, inherited narratives and the relationship between past and present, drawing on personal and collective histories, resilience, and the emotional traces embedded in everyday materials.
She holds a Bachelor of Visual Arts from the University of KwaZulu-Natal and a Postgraduate Diploma in Fine Art from the Durban University of Technology.
In the "Laundry of a Nation", Zondi reflects on the social and emotional inheritance carried by young people in South Africa.
"It was inspired by a personal and broader questioning of what is passed down to us, influencing how we see ourselves, how we behave, and how we imagine our futures. I began thinking about the realities and social struggles that shape our lives as young people, and became interested in how these conditions become part of our homes and shape our country.
"The work draws attention to clothing that carry these experiences, traces of labour, care, hardship, and survival that can become embedded within them. I was also interested in the idea of Abantu bazothini, the awareness of being watched, judged, or questioned by others, and how this can influence young people from an early age," said Zondi.
Through the work, she hopes viewers will consider what they have inherited from the generations and circumstances that came before them, while questioning what they are now carrying into the future.
"I want the piece to encourage a remembrance of our history while also asking difficult questions about the present," she said.
Zondi said one of the biggest challenges was creating clothing at that small scale. Each garment required details that would make it feel recognisable and believable, I had to shape and mould paper intentionally while gluing very small pieces. Working at this scale meant that even the smallest detail could change the character of the piece."
Zondi said the opportunity to be recognised within a competition with such a long-standing history in South Africa’s art landscape is both meaningful and affirming.
"It gives me the opportunity to place my work within broader artistic conversations, engage with other artists, and reach audiences beyond my immediate circle. More than recognition, I see this experience as a valuable step towards defining my practice as well as creating a stronger foundation for my career as an artist," she said.
She entered the competition for the first time this year, motivated by the opportunities and exposure it offers emerging artists.
"I wanted an opportunity to showcase my work to a wider audience, begin establishing myself as an emerging artist, and create a presence for myself within the art world," she said.
Zondi’s artistic journey began in a rural environment where formal access to the arts was limited, but creativity was embedded in everyday life.
She recalls childhood experiences of making, building, shaping and playing with materials as an important foundation for her later artistic practice.
Her formal art education began in high school, where she was introduced to drawing and a range of visual art mediums.
"This curiosity later led me to pursue a Bachelor of Visual Arts, where I explored printmaking, digital art, drawing, and sculpture. While studying, I found myself increasingly drawn to three-dimensional forms, particularly ceramics," she said.
After graduating, Zondi worked as an artist assistant for Durban based artists where she gained practical experience within professional studio environments and further developed her understanding of ceramic practice.
"A significant shift in my practice occurred during my postgraduate studies when I transitioned from clay to mixed media on cardboard and paper.
"My work often draws from personal and collective histories, exploring childhood, home, rural experiences, and the emotional landscapes that shape our lives. I create sculptural forms that move between the figurative and the symbolic, using everyday objects and materials as vessels for storytelling. Through these forms, I reflect on social realities, and the ways in which individuals and communities navigate change, working with human figures or familiar objects."
Zondi said she would like her first solo exhibition to be a space where she could really engage with different themes and ideas that have been sitting with me for some time.
One idea she is considering is an exploration of inheritance, particularly the assumption that what is inherited is inherently positive.
She wants to question not only material inheritance, but also the psychological and social inheritances carried within families and societies.
“We often hear that we inherited something from our parents and it sounds like a gift, something valuable that we receive and carry with us. But I am interested in the other side of that,” she said.
Those inheritances, she noted, can include behaviours, fears, experiences and ways of thinking passed through families, as well as the history, culture and circumstances inherited simply by being born into a particular country.
Reflecting on Zondi’s winning work and the breadth of the 2026 exhibition, Sasol New Signatures Chairperson, Pfunzo Sidogi said: “'The Laundry of a Nation' is an exemplar of how the emerging artists represented in this year’s final exhibition are advancing the tradition of art that tackles the big and difficult questions of life in profound creative registers."
The Sasol New Signatures exhibition, featuring the work of the 2026 winners and finalists, as well as the solo exhibition of 2025 winner, Juandré van Eck - Die Vallei van Adem, is on at the Pretoria Art Museum, from September 10 to November 8.
taschica.pillay@nationalmg.co.za