MINIATURES

Originally the term “miniature” referred to the latin minium = red lead, a pigment used in early medieval times to create illuminated manuscripts.

Only in the 13th century the expression “miniature” referred to something small/minute. In times without photography specially miniature portraits were carried around in lockets and brooches.

Our 21st century 20-by-20 cm miniatures by our artist/craftswoman "zanda" capture african rural and urban environments. She uses a wooden carrier plate onto which a scene from her imagination is roughly sketched. From various metal sheets (aluminium, brass, recycled tins, oxidised copper, etc.) "zanda" cuts out the corresponding figures and nails them to the wooden slate. In a special blackening process she then creates depth around the cut-outs. Finally the miniature is cleaned and signed.

Scenes depict rural life with “monkeys catching the moon”, “meerkats are waiting for daddy” and “chicken escaping from the ndebele kraal”. But they also show the urban environment, where a “mini-countryman is asking where’s the country woman?” And a “naked angel is winging its way through the flashy stars of city life”. Simplicity and smallness --- making the essential visible ! Collectors arrange the miniatures in long horizontal friezes, in square or rectangular blocs or let them float haphazardly across walls … !