crossconnectmag:

Artworks inspired by the Mandela House in Soweto by Charis Tsevis

Created with custom developed scripts, hacks and techniques in Studio Artist, Adobe Creative Suite and Apple QuickTime Pro.

I love Africa! I have travelled many times to the continent and I have even married a South African girl. So when my wife’s family was opening Sasi’s, their second restaurant in Athens, I was excited to collaborate with them on the decoration. 

They asked me to create a series of artworks inspired by the everyday African life but to also pay a tribute to Shaka Zulu and the long tradition of Zulus, Ndebele, Xhosa and all tribes of the land.
The basic element I used is the brick. Borrowed directly from the typical matchbox houses in the African townships the brick for me is a symbol of people’s creativity. A symbol of courage to build a safe place for the family. 

My bricks are sometimes stable and others unstable. And they are filled with other forms of African creativity. Fabrics, art, leather, animal skins…
I have printed these digital files on wood in 8 colours. The white ink is used under some of the bricks in various shades, creating the illusion that the bricks are pieces of paper or metal that are sticked on the wood.
We have added 3 layers of UV on the final artwork adding dimension to the artwork.

Charis Tsevis is an award winning visual designer living and working in Athens, Greece.

see previous posts 1, 2

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posted by Margaret