Azael Langa

Using the meticulous technique of smoke drawing which involves using an open flame from a candle and controlling the smoke that resonates from the contact of the flame with paper, The artworks of Azael are beautiful as well as highly figurative.

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Featuring everyday people, such as a contractor coming home from a hard day’s labor, a father and his children, a mother with her offspring the body of work aims at honoring the unseen men and women in society.

Also reflective of the regeneration of the black family structure in South Africa, Langa introduces a four-room structure in his work, that his subjects are constantly carrying with them, the houses represent relentless love, warmth, care, and comfort that these men, women, and families carry with them everywhere they go, highlighting how one always strives to do better for their families irrespective of their circumstance.

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The use of smoke as a medium is not only utilized for its aesthetic qualities but serves as a visual metaphor as Langa refers to his subjects as overlooked shadows of the city who are trying their best to make it.

Langa’s manipulation of the flame and smoke and inclusion of ink in the artworks function as interrogations of these disregarded everyday people, illuminating their lives, often evoking notions of sentimentality. As he attempts at controlling and manipulating an element that has its own agenda, an element that moves rapidly and can cause deadly mayhem, Langa equates this exercise with everyone’s attempt at directing our own lives in a world with its own schema.

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More from the artists will be explored and shared