Letters to God

Letters to God significantly boosted Ka-Mkame’s reputation when it was acquired by Iziko South African National Gallery. The letters, densely worked oil pastels on paper, evince familiar struggle and protest themes opposing apartheid, but also more mundane, everday struggles and experiences in his fictional dialogues with God and the world of the ANCESTORS. 

Stylistically, the layering of oil pastel colours across the work provides depth and texture, and sets the tone for the issues being addressed in the texts themselves. The varied and many-layered texts comment on all manner of social ills as well as matters of traditional spirituality. 

Artwork courtesy of Iziko South African National Gallery.