Interview: Humour, History, and Intimacy in the Work of Dada Khanyisa

“Storytelling has always been part of my practice,” multi-disciplinary artist Dada Khanyisa shares with Something Curated’s Keshav Anand. “I was developing these characters during my time working in animation, and then I had a friend who had a BA in Fine Art who I was talking with. I was captivated, stimulated, by the things he shared with me, his approach, his perspective. So I went on to study art for the context, for the story, as opposed to just making these aesthetically pleasing characters with lives that often felt quite surface… I realised I wanted to shape a narrative around my community.”

Hailing from Johannesburg and based in Cape Town, Khanyisa’s “sculptural paintings” are layered and rich, conjuring an almost cinematic depth with their attention to detail. Landscapes, weather, architecture, choreographed figures with meticulously rendered skin and hair and teeth, clothing, text and objects, come together to form scenes that are at once representational and abstract. Khanyisa’s first solo exhibition in London, this is for you, at Sadie Coles HQ, open now and on view until 12 April 2025, brings together a very personal body of work, one that draws from both observation and imagination.

Hand carved wooden forms, carefully painted, are embedded with found objects, to create rich narrative tableaux that appear at times like dioramas. These objects act as signifiers for time and place, evoking recent histories and contemporary consumerism: a 1990s Nokia mobile phone, a cocktail glass, an ostrich leather handbag. “There are certain things that I make, but then sometimes it feels unnecessary for me to make an object, like a phone, because as an object, I think it’s complete. It’s resolved. I didn’t want to create an idea of a phone. And, you know, it was fortunate that I could source it,” the artist explains.  

Expanding on their approach to media, Khanyisa continues: “In art school, we had to major in something, and before narrowing it down, I explored both painting and sculpture. Sculpture felt natural, while painting was something I needed to learn. I’m still learning. I was always curious about it and made an effort to paint. Eventually, the two met… Each piece is made by hand with great care. I have my own studio and am quite precious about my process. I moved from a shared studio complex to a more isolated, comfortable home space because I prefer to work alone, without assistance. I mainly work with wood, carving, sanding, painting, and assembling everything myself in the studio.”

An examination of human connections, explored through different kinds of intimacy, is a recurring theme in Khanyisa’s work. For example, intertwined lovers embody the complexities of youth in Sammy and Boipelo, the young couple mined from the pages of Phaswane Mpe’s 2001 novel, Welcome to Our Hillbrow. “I think Cape Town kind of brought me closer to myself… I’ve lived here for twelve years. The spectrum here is wide, and the city is accommodating to the human experience. I’ve learned a lot about people and myself in this mix. People from other parts of the continent come to Cape Town to explore themselves, in all types of ways including different forms of sexual expression. I’ve seen it play out, with many people being poly or open; it’s such a common model here. That’s been at the centre of my interest… I like depicting physical closeness – where one person’s arm ends and another’s begins – showing the fluidity of relationships,” Khanyisa tells.  

The artist isn’t shy to lean on humour, a useful strategy to implement when navigating weighty themes. “There are moments when I look at a piece and think, “Oh, that’s cheeky!” For example, having a finger in someone’s mouth [see Waphela kanjalo umuzi wabadala (The end of a legacy)] is a playful and slightly provocative gesture for public consumption. I’m aware of those elements as I work. Sometimes, I even find myself giggling at a piece while making it.” Another particularly tongue in cheek work, (indistinct chatter), made earlier this year, explores generational disillusionment, portraying a solitary woman in a nightclub bathroom, overwhelmed by emotion after one too many margaritas – her mascara smudged, a false eyelash misplaced.

In parallel with more recently occurring moments, Khanyisa’s works are tinged with a sense of nostalgia. Time can feel a bit hazy when moving through the exhibition, as you oscillate from what looks like the 1950s to present day in just a few steps. The artist manages to amalgamate history with fiction in a way that is largely imperceptible. “I’m not a sci-fi person or an Afrofuturist. I do depend on what’s really going on. I use a caricatured version of a person in a fictitious environment, rather than presenting something factual, but that caricature came from something real, that existed. These aren’t complete representations of people, but I think there’s a part of that that I can get away with, experiment with. It’s planting information in a way, adding to history.”

Khanyisa elaborates: “70 years ago was referencing a photo from 1955 and it’s of a photojournalist who worked in Johannesburg. These guys used to test out their gear, their cameras on themselves, on each other, so they have a lot of photos of themselves, wearing these blazers, and dressing super sharp for photo day… There was an agency that was managing the careers of many photographers in mid-century South Africa. So I spent a lot of time just looking at photos in that archive, and that’s how I was able to create a work that feels as if it were made 70 years ago, almost stating it as fact, because of the format. I am playing with the idea of factual information being created through photography. That was my angle: trying to create or recreate these photos that suggest or tell a story about a particular time – except they’re actually made up.”



Dada Khanyisa: this is for you is open now and on view until 12 April 2025 at Sadie Coles HQ, 1 Davies Street, London.



Feature image: Dada Khanyisa, 70 years ago, 2025. © Dada Khanyisa. Courtesy the Artist and Sadie Coles HQ, London. Photo: Katie Morrison