Artist from Refilwe makes sculptures from wire

Collen Moyo, a local wire sculpture artist from Refilwe, uses unexpected material such as metal wire, a simple, malleable medium praised for its endless artistic potential to invent art.

At the age of 14 he discovered wire and an artistic medium that became a lifelong way of communicating.

“Sometimes it is like communicating with yourself even though you are creating for a larger audience. I create because it’s all I have known for 15 years and it’s like a voice that speaks louder without sound,” he explained.

Born in a family that is primarily known as artists in a township near the historic town Cullinan, Moyo used to draw pictures in the sand not knowing what his hands would become and how imaginative his mind would be.

Using wire made of steel, numerous sculptures from animals, objects and human figures were crafted in his hands taking hours or days to complete.

Each piece brings the truth about his life and how many gravel roads he had to walk in order to approach the sculpting in such an expressive and visionary way, that even a stranger can find some sort of experience in the presence of the pieces.

“It’s all that you want it to be, for me the story might read different but for you it is whatever you make of it,” said Moyo about the feeling his art might evoke.

There is a certain mystery that can be found in his art for he believes we all relate through emotion the way that he relates through seeing

Now he exhibits his relationship with this medium at local markets in Cullinan in the hope to inspire and work hard to catch the attention of a sponsor.
“I really need someone to help me share my passion and sculptures. Then I can manage to help the ghetto youth in my community,” he said about his bigger purpose.