GRAAFF-REINET NEWS - Art has inspired an inclusive and modern society as a platform through which people can share their emotions, and connect with the people around them whilst letting off steam and dealing with personal emotions.
It comments on social structures, breaks down barriers and ultimately rearranges our thoughts on how we interact and relate to the people and world around us bringing powerful social influence.
This is all true for the inspiring local artist, Happy Magida, who has found a way voicing his support for the LGBTQ+ community.
24-year-old Magida hails from Umasizhake township in Graaff-Reinet and only started drawing four years ago.
He started by copying things and developed his craft. He soon found his niche in ambiguous realism by infusing everyday objects and connecting meaning to what he sees.
Through this process, he has found an intense interest in hands linking them to various topics such as "the powers at hand" and hands being the helper, the provider, the feeder, the toucher and the creator.
His latest collection titled, It is what it is, comments on life, love and the challenges the LGBTQ+ community faces and calls for acceptance from both the community and society as a whole.
Magida has always been creative and after completing his schooling at Nqweba Secondary School in Graaff-Reinet, he enrolled for a degree in social welfare at the University of Fort Hare where he is currently a student. It is at Fort Hare that his art took off and his collection is on exhibition at the university from the end of March for a prolonged period.
He has found art to be therapeutic, as it helps him make sense of the world, the love and hate around him and brought him to the acceptance that 'it is what it is'.
He says accepting this into your daily life keeps you from wasting time lingering on all the negative things and helps you better equip yourself to make the world your own.
His art can be seen on his Instagram handle, @happymagida4.
He will focus on doing commission work after graduation and plans to keep feeding on the joy and energy he gets from his art.
Photos: Pieter Pienaar
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