Motlhoki Nono (b. 1998, Pretoria, South Africa) is a printmaker and video artist from Johannesburg, South Africa. She defines her practice as Black Romantic Studies, examining ‘the socio-political contours of love’: How the articulation and experience of romance manifests at the intersection of race, class, geography and gender. Motlhoki’s practice departs from observing the racialised gap that excludes the experiences of black people and the gendered one, excluding black women as the subjects of love in romantic productions. Using various lens-based media, print and digital found objects as tools, Motlhoki examines this gap with a decolonial and sociological approach, questioning and problematising the implications of this exclusion on the experience of romance for black women. Her practice operates within the absence of black romantic representation. Through a language of composition, consumption and romantic aesthetics from South African black townships, Motlhoki explores the romantic within the frame of the political. Her romantic-based practice maps the lines of intimacy and violence within love, attempting to contribute towards a black romantic archive that centres on the experiences of black women in particular.
Read More