Soapstone sculpture exhibition opens
Sculptor Ismael Shivute's solo exhibition “I Keep My Circle Small” opens 18:00 at the Fresh 'n Wild restaurant at Utopia in Klein-Windhoek on 25 October.Shivute, who has worked extensively with metal and organic materials in the past, now focuses on soapstone. According to the artist, the soapstone, which comes from quarries on the outskirts of Windhoek, offers the right balance between resilience and flexibility.
The sculptures he has created in the last two years consist mainly of abstract forms. Shivute uses circles as a theme for this exhibition, both literally and figuratively, and each artwork thus includes a variant of a circle along with other shapes and textures.
The idea behind the exhibition’s theme is directly related to the artist's experiences with social circles. “As humans, whether we like it or not, we will live through a time when our circle of friends will shrink over the years. Some of us don't realize that in order to grow in life, we need to give up certain friendships. The smaller your circle of friends, the fewer people you have to fear.”
Shivute studied sculpture in the visual arts department of the College of the Arts.
The collection can be viewed until 13 November.