Boniface Chikwenhere

of Bonidrift Creations

driftwood brought back to life

I am 28 years old and hail from Zimbabwe. Carving is in my blood as I was born into a family that has been practising the skill of carving for many generations. During school holidays we as children would be given tasks by our uncles to polish their artwork and along the way we would be taught a few of their tricks and techniques, just bits and pieces really, that did not light my passion at that stage.

While I did not take to the craft as a child, these seeds planted by my elders did eventually grow and a couple of years back I began to take carving seriously. Since then I admit that with each piece I make I develop more respect for both this form of art and for the crafter as a professional.

Living with art positively requires some effort, but at the end of the day the effort is well rewarded! Art taps into our emotions, deepens our humanity and makes us more aware of our surrounding environment.

Driftwood creations in abstract form demands mastery of a unique art, giving life to dead wood. It has become a passion for me because each bit of wood I use has an emotion or vision it wished to express, and in my work with that piece of wood, I must find and reveal that inner secret. Forcing my own will, story or theme upon the wood leads to disappointed, so a subtle interaction is required between artist and art work.

I do not try to transform the wood, just release its hidden emotions. And in the wood I find pain, ululation, suffering, cheering, lovers, the hunter and the hunted, caring mothers, abused women, and many other expressions of life in Africa.

a typical starting point - click on the picture to see what it became

My driftwood art in abstract is in fact a basic form of human expression, a natural part of life that encompasses the social, economic and political achievements and struggles of the modern society that we can neither ignore nor run away from.

I should explain that it is the timing of the harvesting of driftwood from its natural resting place that is the first important action that defines and gives character to the end product. Pieces of driftwood that I reject this year are just left where they are and will mature in subsequent years to reveal their desires and inner beauty.

When carving we use unique and antique methods that have been passed down for many generations. This included the mbezo, a small hoe-like tool that is used to chip away unwanted material. Other tools like chisels, axes and even broken pieces of glass are also used to add the finishing touches to the final sculpture.

I am inspired by air, marine and land flora and fauna, and of course also the human form. In the future I want to experiment with a fusion of recycled materials to combine with driftwood to produce eco-friendly artefacts that will remind us of our need to preserve and conserve our ecosystem. Already I make use of old wrought iron to make garden craftwork.

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Last Updated 23 December 2010 09:11