Mary Sibande (b. 1982) is a contemporary South African artist working across a variety of mediums, from sculpture to photography and printmaking. Her work primarily explores how to reclaim the black female body in post-colonial and post-apartheid South Africa. Her work often portrays the artist’s alter-ego “Sophie”, a dreamer exploring worlds previously denied to her. Sophie is based upon Sibande herself, as well as the women in Sibande’s family, however, she is also a symbolic figure addressing many topics that remain relevant today, including blackness, femininity, labour and post-coloniality.
