Turiya Magadlela

By: Charles Moore

Experience on both a personal and shared level becomes tactile experiences in the work of Turiya Magadlela. Her innovative use of materials creates visceral responses to themes of identity, societal expectations, and humanity, which has given her a formidable voice in the art world.

Image courtesy of Kates-Ferri Projects

Born in Johannesburg and currently based in Cape Town, Magadlela’s artistic practice reflects both her South African heritage and her engagement with global conversations around race and gender. Battling against the limitations of materials and accessibility to inspiration within her South African society, she persisted and developed an approach to mixed media conceptualism that continues to garner acclaim worldwide. Integrating traditional and unconventional materials, she is asking us to confront the complex issues of identity in our modern world.

Among the captivating qualities within Magadlela’s work, she has become recognized in particular for her use of pantyhose—a medium she employs to explore themes of commodification, objectification, and the constraints imposed on the female body. The pantyhose, often associated with sexualization and fetishization, becomes a powerful symbol in her art. By manipulating this material, Magadlela critiques societal pressures and idealized expectations placed on women, particularly women of color.

Image courtesy of Kates-Ferri Projects

The artist’s choice of material is both strategic and symbolic. Pantyhose, a fabric traditionally used to enhance or alter the appearance of the body, becomes a metaphor for the ways women are pressured to conform to societal norms. Magadlela stretches, tears, and reconfigures pantyhose into abstract forms in a painterly fashion, forcing deep contemplations on traditional notions of beauty and identity as women undergo personal, mental, and physical contortions to meet unrealistic standards. This transformation of a commonplace item into a medium for profound artistic expression allows her to comment on the commodification of the female body and the inherent contradictions within societal standards of beauty.

Image courtesy of Kates-Ferri Projects

She masterfully evokes complex themes through seemingly simple materials. In her past work, when not tugging and tearing at pantyhose, she incorporated other accessible textiles into her pieces, such as prison uniforms and workers’ overalls. By cutting, reshaping, and meticulously arranging in intricate patterns, she formulates new geometries and visual effects that are both striking and thought provoking. This approach allows her to engage with themes of containment and constraint as well as the notion of bodies being forced into predefined molds from her personal lens. Whether as a woman, person of color, mother, or resident of South Africa, the distorted fabrics symbolize the physical and psychological pressures and the toll they take on individual and collective identity.

With time, her artistic evolution has proven the unprecedented nature of her skills and artistry. Where once she employed red stitching that resembled sutures or scars, further emphasizing themes of trauma and healing, we have witnessed a delicacy and mastery take hold. Physical and emotional scars carried by women and the societal wounds inflicted upon them have transformed into more painterly techniques. Her works, in their gestural, textured, and entrancing movements, resemble those of abstract paintings rather than traditional mixed media pieces. With each stitch, each rip, and each pull, she intuitively but strategically places colors and lines to draw her viewers deeper into their meditations.

Image courtesy of Kates-Ferri Projects

Magadlela’s recent works, characterized by their painterly quality and the incorporation of graphite dust, exemplify her continuing exploration of materiality and form. These pieces often feature abstracted surfaces that evoke lunar landscapes or explosive events, reflecting dichotomous themes of creation and destruction that resonate with the plight of womanhood. The use of graphite dust adds a layer of texture and depth to her work, allowing ideas related to the origins of life, the nature of existence, and the ongoing struggle for agency and representation to flourish amid the desolation she constructs.

One of the defining aspects of Magadlela’s work is her engagement with cultural and historical contexts. For example, her use of motifs such as pineapples takes on new meaning within her work. In American culture, the pineapple represents hospitality, but Magadlela’s exploration of this symbol reflects on its historical implications. During the Colonial era, pineapples were a luxury item in the Caribbean, and the symbol of hospitality associated with them carries complex connotations related to colonialism, the oppressive roles of and regulations against women throughout history, and the exploitation of Black bodies. By incorporating such symbols, Magadlela invites viewers to reflect on the historical and cultural implications of these images that contradict conventional interpretations.

Image courtesy of Kates-Ferri Projects

She transcends time and place. While themes of race and identity in a global context echo through, we become acutely aware that whether it is first world or third world, the past or the present, we continue to face the same personal and shared struggles. Momentarily equalized, we can peer into her work and dissect new perspectives of ourselves and our society. For instance, Magadlela’s use of pantyhose in flesh tones, ranging from the lightest to the darkest shades, addresses issues of racialized beauty standards and the politics of pigmentation. By presenting a spectrum of skin tones, she questions the criteria by which beauty is judged and highlights the arbitrary nature of these standards. This exploration of color and texture within her work serves as a critique of the ways in which race and beauty are intertwined, offering a commentary on the impact of these constructs on individuals and societies throughout time and across borders.

Image courtesy of Kates-Ferri Projects

Magadlela’s art is distinguished by its capacity to engage viewers on both an intellectual and emotional level. Her work encourages personal reflection and invites diverse interpretations, making it accessible to a wide audience while maintaining its conceptual rigor. The physical presence of her pieces is entirely unmatched. Their intricate details create a compelling visual experience that prompts viewers to not only understand what they see before them but also what they can see within themselves. She is building a relationship, something intangible that coincides with the visual nature of her work, where something that is unable to be replicated emerges between maker and viewer and lives long beyond the gallery walls.

The stitches, weaves, and pulls within Turiya Magadlela’s artistic practice are a testament to her passion for materiality that lends itself to accentuating themes of identity, gender, and societal expectations. In sheer defiance of conventional methodologies of mixed media and narratives of womanhood, she offers a fresh perspective on contemporary issues. Translating everyday materials into powerful symbols of resistance and reflection underscores her capacity to be a force in the cultural landscape.