Little Black Book of Art

Cape Town is one of South Africa’s most important creative hubs, and when I visited recently, I was lucky enough to come across the multi-talented Zimbabwean born artist, Shirley Fintz. Little Black Book of Art interviews Shirley to find out more…

Shirley Fintz was born and educated in Harare, and after finishing her A-Levels in Art and Economics, she moved down to the Cape, having gained a place at UCT (University of Cape Town). Shirley began studying for a BCom in economics and after completing a year decided to change direction. She gathered a portfolio together, and with it gained a place at UTC’s prestigious fine art school Michaelis, majoring in graphics and photography.

During the four-year course, Shirley briefly explored working with clay but didn’t have the opportunity to connect with the medium because the tutors were pushing the students to create work using a variety of materials – they were teaching sculpture, not ceramics.

However during her final year, Shirley came across one of Michaelis’s former students and one of South Africa’s most accomplished ceramicists Barbara Jackson (1949-2010), who inspired her to look at the medium again for her concluding thesis.  Shirley’s project was entitled ‘Food and Art’ – an exploration of popular culture and packaging. She began by photographing hundreds of branded supermarket products, blowing her pictures up, then creating a series of larger-than-life replicas of food and iconic South African consumer products, such as Mrs. Balls Chutney sauce and Lucky Star – Marmite pots and coca-cola cans were also used a great deal, because “the forms are so divine!”…The work became Shirley’s own take on what artists such as Claes Oldenberg (b.1929) and Andy Warhol (1928-1987) had achieved during the Pop Art movement that emerged in the 1950’s in Britain and the United States.

Shirley then organised a solo exhibition in Cape Town that took the form of a supermarket, stocking all the over-sized products she had made. She sold very well, loved the whole process that had taken place, and felt encouraged to spend more time learning how to master the art of sculpting with clay. She therefore settled herself into a space in Barbara Jackson’s pottery studio where she stayed for 15 years.

(NB: for those who are not familiar with Barbara’s work, the self-taught artist was known for her curvaceous, hand-built earthenware pots decorated with bold geometric patterns, often pushing the use of texture to the extreme and glazed with unique colours complimenting her outstanding craftsmanship. Her innovative and exotic pots were often inspired by the social and political transformation of South Africa and can be found in several public collections, including Montreal’s Museum of Fine Arts. For more information, see www.barbarajackson.co.za)

Image:  Barbara Jackson  ceramics

Whilst working in the pottery studio, Shirley finally found her niche and began to establish herself as a ceramic sculptor. The first pieces she made were a series of large, playful, memorabilia-type creations, inspired by her vast collection of vintage, vinyl toys. Superman, Pooh, Piglet and the Muppets amongst others, were humorously recreated in clay often covered with beautifully painted, graphic patterns.

After finishing her ‘toy series’, a new assurance and self-belief emerged in Shirley: she found that she had been able to easily replicate the very intricate details that these old toys had been fashioned with, including arms and legs that moved, thus giving her the confidence to begin to build quite complex objects.  She says, “The project completely freed me up, and gave me the tools I needed to build pretty much anything”.

Whilst in conversation with Shirley, she revealed that she has never felt the urge to use a pottery wheel. She’s found a method that works for her, and hasn’t felt the need to develop it further.  Shirley doesn’t like the flawless finish that using a pottery wheel can sometimes bring; she doesn’t want to make something that she could buy in a store. She likes to make things that are unique and offbeat by employing the versatile coiling technique and creating pieces that have a freeness and looseness about them. She sees beauty in her imperfect pieces and loves the hand building process.

She hates ‘slabbing’ and the energy it takes to roll out each piece and to cut it up and paste the bits together.  However she likes to roll coils, as­ it‘s the rolling process that provides her with the serenity she craves.  Having totally mastered the technique of building with clay, she now meditates while working – a process she finds extremely healing and calming.  She feels blessed to have an occupation that provides her with a living, expresses her creativity and brings her inner peace.

Shirley has always had a fascination with the every day and is a compulsive collector, not only of toys, but also of art, jewellery, vintage clothes, and tribal craft – all of which clearly inspire her work. She likes to discover things and make them her own. She’s interested in history and often merges the past and the present by adapting old-fashioned designs and putting them in a new context. South African culture also plays a part in the direction her work has taken, since she likes the pieces she creates to have reference to where she’s from.

As Shirley’s work has evolved over the years, the themes she focuses on have become intertwined, reflecting on her heritage, her fascination with the inner child and our brand obsessed culture. It is said that her more recent work sculpting animals has really begun to find its focus. The series touches on fantasy and includes trophies, flying buck, stacked animals, and giant toys decorated in delft (blue and white pottery made in the Netherlands), florals, and traditional South African shweshwe motifs.

I love the fact that Shirley is undeterred by the fact that she feels that her countrymen see ceramics as the underdog of the art world.  In most recent years the British artist and Turner Prize winner Grayson Perry has brought ceramics to the fore again, but it is still not seen as work that South African’s necessarily want to invest in. Shirley finds it strange that people can’t necessarily relate to an art form that requires the skills of both sculptor and painter, and therefore part of her prefers to exhibit internationally where people have more of an appreciation for ceramic design.

Shirley’s success has meant that a few months ago she has had to move out of Barbara Jackson’s pottery studio into a place of her own. The new space is located round the corner from her house, enabling her to be close to her husband Russell and two young children Eden and Leo. Her new work environment has been well adapted to her needs, giving her the capacity to have a space where she can teach, create, try different things, and have the freedom to expand her commercial output. (She now supplies to the American cult store Anthropologie in London’s Regent Street, amongst others).

I find it very hard to see Shirley as a ceramicist (even though she would probably disagree), because she uses her creative talent in such a variety of ways, often working simultaneously on a number of different projects and turning all her passions into thriving businesses.

Firstly there was Monkeybiz, a bead project that she co-founded with Barbara Jackson in 2000.

This socially conscious business initially began when Shirley tried to help her nanny Makatiso, as well as her friends Mathapelo and Eunice, make extra money to help their impoverished families. Shirley knew that all three women had been raised to produce exquisite beadwork (since it is such a huge part of African culture), so she simply bought a whole load of beads and asked them to copy a vintage doll she had at home. Makatiso, Mathapelo and Eunice set to work and Shirley subsequently fell in love with the dolls that they created, each with their own personality and style. She bought the lot, and began thinking of ways to expand the project, and that was when she took her idea to Barbara.

Spurred on by her desire to do something more to help alleviate poverty in Cape Town, Barbara injected money into the venture, and the non-profit company Monkeybiz was born. Barbara’s life-partner, the famous South African artist Carrol Boyes (b.1968), gave them an office space at her own headquarters in Bo-Kaap, where all the logistics took place.

They then set to work training a group of women in the Khayelitsha Township and provided them with free materials such as wire and multicoloured beads to make a range of quirky items (mainly animals), which initially Shirley designed herself, and which they copied. Barbara and Shirley then bought back the products made by the women and sold them on, putting the profits back into buying new materials and forming projects to help the community.

“This project is the real-deal”, as Shirley says, “because the money goes directly to the artists and they’re also saving money by working from home, which also enables them to look after their families”.

Today Monkeybiz provides jobs for 450 women and employs ten staff at its headquarters. It takes orders from all over the world by high profile designers such as Donna Karan (who sells Monkeybiz pieces in her Manhattan store), Oprah Winfrey, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. (See www.monkeybiz.co.za). After dedicating 10 years to Monkeybiz, Shirley left the business to devote more time to her other ventures; however she’d like to start another social project in the not too distant future.

The success of Monkeybiz has meant that a number of companies throughout South Africa have climbed onto the bandwagon and have started up similar businesses thus helping to revive interest in the art of beading. This specialised craftsmanship is far more than just a decorative art of weaving small glass beads into aesthetically pleasing patterns. Beadwork is influenced by a number of factors and is full of symbolism. It employs unique colour codes and geometrical designs in numerous ways to shape a variety of messages. It is a communication system, similar in principle to a written language and has a strong social function, as well as giving aesthetic satisfaction in the form of art. It is an integral part of tribal cultural tradition throughout the continent, and tells us a great deal about the way in which certain African countries have constructed their society.

Shirley’s creativeness seems to have no bounds, and Monkeybiz gave her the impetus to start making and selling her own beaded pieces, in the form of necklaces, bracelets and rings. Shirley is an incredibly accomplished jewellery designer who stocks up on beads from an African glass bead dealer that comes to Cape Town once a year, and with them makes one-off trinkets that immediately stand out and catch your eye.  Her jewellery has just been spotted by the Conran group, and they have just placed a mammoth order. In fact when I visited Shirley, she greets me with blistered hands, saying, “You need to be careful what you wish for!”

She cites moonstones and chevron beads as her favorites. (NB: Chevron beads are also referred to as Rosetta or Star beads and were originally created in Venice and Murano towards the end of the 15th century. They consist of layers of alternating coloured glass with a number of facets created in specifically constructed star moulds). She also collaborates closely with jewelers who help her create pieces for herself, using finer materials and gemstones that require a specialist skill-set, along with tools and machinery that she doesn’t possess.

Shirley’s boundless energy and sense of style also stretches as far as fashion. She’s long been a lover of vintage clothes, so when the shop next to her studio became available, she began stocking it not only with her ceramic work and jewellery, but also with customized vintage dresses along with a variety of accessories dating from the 50’s through to the 80’s.

Vintage is not commonplace in South Africa, and Shirley spends quite a bit of time sourcing items from a range of suppliers that she then slices and alters to give them an interesting edge and to suit her tastes.  Originally, she just started just selling a few items to her friends, and now a veritable craze has begun with women piling into her shop snapping up dresses almost as soon as they are hung on the rails.

Shirley explains that when she sees a vintage dress, she becomes manic and just wants to cut the lining out and change the piece.  More than anything she loves to customize what looks like dreary old clothes and turn them into something sexy and beautiful. She doesn’t have a favorite era in terms of collecting, but she loves the thick, pure lace from the 50’s, and anything Victorian if it’s in good condition.

What Shirley does is in fact, is another way of sculpting, but using fabric.  She freely admits she’s a frustrated fashion designer, but a very talented one at that! Her beautifully considered, quirky pieces retail from R300 to R650.  I say watch this space…she’ll soon have a big, international department store clamoring for her pieces!

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In conversation with Shirley…

1. Life philosophy? Live in the moment, be true.

2. Favorite discovery? Cutting up vintage clothes.

3. What makes you happy? Family, working, people, life. I’m always happy.

4. Favorite place to escape to? Ibiza.

5. Worst nightmare? Death.

6. What art pieces do you collect? I collect what feels right across all media.
Contemporary, antique, famous, not famous.

7. Favorite book? Book that I have read the most times? At the moment it has to be the Ringing Cedars of Russia series by Vladimir Megré. I think I’ll be dipping into that forever. The book is all about consciousness and it is a real story about a woman who lived in a forest – in fact, she was brought up in a forest and there is a cedar tree there that holds the key to a lot of stuff that we don’t know about. The book really is about how children should not be at school and they should be brought up in the gardens and learning about plants and looking the moon and all the information that they need will come from the earth. It talks about how the moment we are born we are put into this society that shuts down our talents and our truth and our knowledge – because we are born with all the knowledge that we need, and we just close it all up by being put in this society that is all about learning and all about taking away from who you are. (Although Shirley’s children are not home-schooled because her work is so demanding, she says that putting her kids in school makes her feel almost like she’s back there.) I hated school and discipline and the teachers. I felt like I was in prison, and all these elements are being stirred up in me again. Oh…and uniforms…I hate uniforms. I can’t stand them. They take away individuality and they are synthetic and revolting. Maybe you should cut them up? (Ignores that comment…) I mean, I know what it’s about. You don’t want little girls wearing short skirts, but be reasonable! Why can’t you say wear jeans and a white t-shirt? Or, jeans and a t-shirt? Why does it have to be that horrible synthetic stuff? Why we all have to look the same? Why do you have to be in an army when you’re 6 years old? Therein starts the taking away of your individuality and your soul.

How do you then develop your style? You copy all your contemporaries, then you come out of school and you don’t have your own identity, and you don’t necessarily know what you’re going to do with the rest of your life. Your parents tell you to go to university, and then you wonder what you’re going to study. Then your parents tell you to study something they want you to study, and not something you actually want to study, you finish your degree and say, “But I don’t want to be an economist or an accountant!”   Then you’re like, “What must I do?”…You have a bit of a breakdown when you’re 30 and then you go on this spiritual search to find out who you are, which is unnecessary. You can be bought up in a different way…and here I am preaching when my kids are in school. But I try to provide them balance. They both kite surf and they’re like only eight and they love nature, gardening and cooking.

8. What talent would you most like to have, that you don’t already possess? Acting.

9. Do you think an artist is born or made or both? Both. I think that we are all born artists, and we are all born able to be whatever we want to be. We just have to nurture it, find the right teacher and you can become what you want.

10. What was the first piece of work that you sold? It was an oversized box of Lion matches. The box was open and the matches were loose inside, and it sold immediately. In fact, I ended up taking orders for that piece and made 4 more. What happened with Monkeybiz, was that my oversized pieces got made into beaded products and everything was just a flow of my artwork into there.

11. Do you have any other passions? Music. I don’t play an instrument, but I DJ.

12. How does art make you feel? I love the way a piece of art can change a boring room into something exciting and full of energy. That’s how to teach people about art.

13. What challenges do you face in your work? I don’t have any really. My only frustration is not being able to prevent people from copying me. I don’t mind people being inspired by what I do, but there is a difference. It’s hurtful when an artist takes your design and mass-produces it. They aren’t real artists, they’re just copyists! I know being copied is the highest form of flattery and when it comes to my personal style it doesn’t bother me so much, because I sell jewellery and fashion items that I wear myself, so obviously people are going to look like me, but when it’s my work, that’s different. I mean with regards to my style, the reason I like vintage is because it is individual and unique, I don’t want to create clones or become some glorified personal shopper…There is a fine line though – it’s hard…

14. Who do you admire? Do you get inspired by artists or objects and everyday things? I love looseness and originality in an artist. I admire uniqueness, as well as people who aren’t afraid to make a statement and aren’t afraid to be who they are. Artists need to express what is inside them and not…(she stops)…In my opinion, all art is a reproduction of things we have seen before. But expressing things in your own way is what makes it unique. Obviously everything has been done. There is only a certain amount of colours and combinations of colours and things, but you have got to take something and make it your own, you can’t just take something and reproduce it…

Once again, I sense Shirley’s exasperation at the people trying to copy and reproduce something of who she is – almost as if they are trying to steal her identity. I understand, and I’m not quite sure how she copes. I think she’s very gracious. I’ve seen trails of ‘wanna-be Shirley’s’ buzzing in and out of her shop, desperately trying to re-capture her style or the way she works, and it must be slightly frustrating. Thing is, she is so gorgeous, stylish, and charming with it, I guess women just can’t help themselves.

Visit Shirley’s website at www.shirleyfintz.com for any further information.