Khoale ea Letebele
PALESA MOTHEO
Visual Art
Originally Published: 19 December 2025
This wearable sculpture embodies my ongoing journey of cultural discovery, reflecting the rich tapestry of my identity as Sotho with the fading Ndebele roots. The headwear blends the vibrant Ndebele style with Sotho weaving patterns, while the torso showcases intricate Ndebele geometric designs. The feather skirt, crafted from carved wood, links to my clan animal and the flight (migration) of people in the 1800s, leading to cultural erasure through assimilation. It adds a dynamic element, and the bird talons surrounding the body symbolise strength as I dig for truth. Made from wood, this piece signifies both sturdiness and adaptability, mirroring how cultural identities can shift and evolve over time, much like my own journey, where my Sotho surname coexists with my Ndebele heritage. This sculpture celebrates the beauty of hybrid identities and the stories they tell.
The Creative
PALESA MOTHEO
Palesa Motheo is a multidisciplinary artist based in Cape Town, South Africa, specialising in sculpture and painting. Her practice draws deeply on Sotho heritage while engaging with Matebele identity, exploring cultural memory, spirituality, and the intersections of tradition and modernity in post-colonial Southern Africa. Through storytelling, material experimentation, and symbolism, she examines how histories are archived, erased, and reimagined, often reflecting on the unconscious self and social norms.
Recent works include wearable sculpture, painting, animation, and photography, each investigating identity, the endurance of indigenous knowledge systems, and cultural inheritance.
As an emerging artist, she is committed to creating work that not only challenges conventional narratives but also preserves and reactivates matriarchal stories, myths, and traditions passed down through generations.