PATELETSO MOKGOTLE ART
Meet Pateletso Mokgotle
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Born in the village of Setlagole, North West Province of South Africa on December 16, 1981, I discovered my natural artistic inclination from a young age, though I never received formal art training. Throughout my upbringing and schooling, I nurtured this creative passion with great enthusiasm. However, at some point, I made the conscious decision to set aside my artistic pursuits.
Before this abandonment, after moving to Johannesburg, I had the opportunity to participate in two group exhibitions, an art competition for the prestigious ABSA Latelier in 2012 and 2013. Also sold two pieces of work privately. After these initial successes, I redirected my focus, studying sound engineering part-time and pursuing my musical abilities through solo recordings and collaborations with fellow musicians.
This chapter, too, eventually came to a close as I went on to study exercise science and became a self-employed physical exercise coach and personal trainer specializing in sports conditioning, functional training, and fitness and wellness.
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For seven years, I immersed myself in this business, until 2023 when I decided to close this chapter, feeling that I had outgrown it. While in the mid-journey of the business I met an art professor who was also a practicing artist. He recognized my dormant creative potential and invited me to attend his art classes, with the aim of reawakening my artistic voice. I accepted the invitation, but my journey was not without its challenges, as I stopped attending the classes in less than four months.
Yet, the desire to create never truly faded. I found myself suppressing this innate impulse, convincing myself that I would simply "paint in my head" and return to the canvas when the right time and space presented itself. Now, in 2024, after having undergone profound personal growth, both emotionally and intellectually. I have come to a deeper understanding of myself, my voice, and the value of my creative journey. I am ready to consciously bridge the gap between my past, present, and future, and to reignite my artistic practice with a renewed sense of purpose and self-awareness. This is my story of appearance, disappearance, and reappearance as an artist – a testament to the resilience of the creative spirit and the transformative power of self-discovery. The remembrance.
The Essence of My Artistic Expression
​My work represents my search for answers to existential questions such as: what is it that unites us as humanity and what separates us? What makes some of us “winners” and others “losers”? How do the roles of the “oppressor” and the “victim” interact?
My work therefore explores unifying elements such as the relevance of pain for personal growth, the transient and ephemeral nature of life, the interconnectedness of humans between themselves and with nature, the special purpose we give to our existence. At the same time I also reflect on issues such as origin and identity, which, if misinterpreted, can produce othering and separation, like I see happening in the context of forced migration.
I challenge social structures, such as politics, religion and cultural traditions when they, rather than supporting the self in its journey of self-discovery and discovery of the other (self), become obstacles to human development.
I see in spirituality a vehicle of healing, growth and socio-political redemption. Hence my opus underscores the importance of transformation and re-birth in which consciousness and self awareness play a central role, both at individual and collective level, in revealing our common values, vision and trajectory.
My art is the expression of my reflections both on the personal and on the socio-political, reflections that generate abstract visions that then I reproduce on canvas. The themes I chose to engage with draw inspiration both from my African heritage and the kaleidoscope of experiences that have shaped my life, which are often deeply intertwined. However, while I glorify expressions of strength and resilience passed on to me by my ancestors, at the same time I propose a re-interpretation of what I see as limiting beliefs and perspectives. Even if originating in my African roots, my narratives aim at transcending the boundaries of time, space, race and religion and speak the universal language of the soul.​
My paintings are made of a layering of canvas, acrylic paint, enamel and other materials. This is meant to express the different layers of meaning that the mediums used take on in the experience of the artist and in the different perceptions and interpretations by the audience. I use colours to represent feelings and emotions while sand, multicultural textiles, bark and other mediums are meant to craft a tactile symphony that honours the rich heritage and lived realities of cultures that were successfully marginalised because separated from themselves, from their inner power. I also see this artistic process as weaving a tapestry with the threads of interconnectedness, where I invite the viewer to embark on a sensorial journey that connects the lasting and the ephemeral, the tangible and the intangible, the personal and the universal.
I consider myself a contemporary artist, I allow myself absolute freedom in the choice of art materials, as long as they are able to convey a certain message. For example, in order to illuminate the beauty in imperfection I might paint on packaging cardboard, already used and due to go to the pulping mill; the same material can be employed to highlight the strength in vulnerability, when its admitted and revealed, the resilience in adversity. Through this artistic exploration, I aspire to challenge perceptions, foster greater understanding, and celebrate the shared humanity that connects us all.
I sometimes adopt the method of shredding parts of already painted canvases to use on other works to express the courage and the freedom of transformation, though a conscious and deliberate destruction of something finished in the pursuit of something better; this procedure represents the commitment of the artist to always look for perfection, as it should be for the human being, to always strive to perfect his/her purpose. This process also challenges the human being/artist trust in his own intuition and pushes him/her beyond the boundaries of the “satisfactory” towards the achievement of what is “unique” and “original” and, ultimately, “exceptional”.