From sand drawings to stories on canvas
At just 22, fine artist Agrey Makoro is using his brush to tell stories of childhood, community and the realities that shaped him.
Before there were sketchbooks, art supplies or even a classroom, Agrey Makoro found his canvas in the sand.
Growing up in Limpopo, now residing in Diepsloot, the 22-year-old fine artist spent his childhood drawing in the dust with friends.
What started as simple childhood play soon followed him into the classroom, where pencils and exercise books gave him new tools to explore his creativity.
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For Makoro, those early moments were more than just childhood games – they were the beginning of a lifelong relationship with art.
“…I started when I was very young, before even school; it has always been in my blood.”
His childhood surroundings have continued to influence the work he creates today.
Through his portraits and other artworks, Makoro draws from the environment he grew up in, using his experiences to give his paintings deeper meaning.
Growing up in an area where poverty was part of everyday life shaped the way he sees the world and, ultimately, the stories he chooses to tell through his art.
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For Makoro, art has become a language of its own – one that allows him to communicate emotions and experiences that may sometimes be difficult to express with words.
“We artists, we can’t speak by mouth, but we use our hands and emotions through that art to speak.”
One of his works, Childhood Memories, reflects this philosophy.
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The painting takes viewers back to a simpler time when children played outside, ran barefoot in the dust and found happiness in one another’s company.
The artwork is also a reflection on how technology has changed childhood, with Makoro contrasting the freedom and innocence of earlier years with a generation increasingly shaped by screens and social media.
Through his work, he hopes to remind people that happiness does not always have to be found online.
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