Life Tree (2012) Sculpture by Tapiwa Chapo

The starting point of my inspiration is based on nature and environment, meaning most of my images have been shaped by my experience of Shona culture. To me art is a moral necessity; content, symbolism, message and moral are as functional as form and beauty. Making art can change action by which mind refers it's sensations to external objects as a cause.
I see it in the same way as poetry can sustain the life of language through new forms of usage – so the visual arts can also break new grounds through the handling of materials and the process of imagination.

I try to create art which pushes visual language in new directions involving myself in a dialogue through material, language, meaning and function. I see my art as part of a continuous dialogue between me and my audience. Through my art I treat and respect the material as a living force crying to be freed.

• Nationality: ZIMBABWE
• Date of birth : 1974
• Artistic domains:
• Groups: Zimbabwean Contemporary Artists