Artist Lady Skollie talks freedom, feminism and learning to take up space unapologetically.
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I remember the first time I attended one of Lady Skollie’s Cape Town exhibitions. Titled ‘Bound’, her bold body of work lit up the white walls of the Everard Read Gallery. The tension in the repetitive linework of her mixed-media artworks evoked a sense of feeling in between — like being stuck between a rock and a hard place. It honoured womanhood (flora) and freedom (a kraal) while facing challenges that come with patriarchal limitations and control.
I’ll admit, I wasn’t sure how to interpret her style and process at first, but that’s because she’s in a league of her own. After some time, her bold choice of colour, god-like figures and even some ‘sexy’ fruits became familiar. Her work had a language of its own, too; one that communicated her innermost thoughts on identity politics, sex, lust and cultural norms.
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Looking at her work, I knew she was someone with a complex personality. Bold yet vulnerable, perplexing yet direct, bubbly yet stands on business, Lady Skollie is as dynamic and ‘out there’ in person as the markings she makes on Fabriano paper (or wood or Perspex — whatever floats her boat at the time).
In the same way that this bona fide badass remains ever-changing and unpredictable, freedom in South Africa has never been straight-cut. It’s loud, layered, political, deeply personal — and for women, especially women of colour, it’s still a work in progress.
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Words: Charndré Emma Kippie
Photography: Zhann Solomons
Styled by: Mia-Tess Smith
