The Dealr
SANA KING
WHO AM I
I am a poet, author, and multidisciplinary artist whose practice spans painting, sculpture, photography, printmaking, installations, and mixed media. My work is deeply rooted in lived experiences, ancestral guidance, and the indigenous knowledge systems and rich proverbs of Nguni languages. Inspired by Ndebele artistic traditions which are by-products of womanist practices among the Ndzundza Ndebele, and my matriarchal upbringing, I seek to illuminate women's narratives and reclaim their presence in histories of erasure. My series Owesifazane serves as a visual extension of my poetry, exploring the unreadability of personal trauma. Geometric forms and natural landscapes shape my visual language, heavily drawing from Umgwalo (Ndebele artistic forms). My creative process is highly intuitive; designs frequently emerge through premonitions and messages from ithongo lami (my ancestral guides), which became a vital source of clarity and restoration born from a period of confusion and despair. Whether mapping out unfulfilled childhood aspirations in When Are Dreams Grievable? or executing ancestral love letters in Imiyalo, my body serves as a vessel and an archive that embodies memory.
ARTWORKS
