Drawing with candle smoke

Have you ever heard of an artist in Malawi who uses candle smoke to draw illustrations or you probably think this is another joke of the day? No, this is not April 1 the Fools’ Day thus you have to believe that there is one female visual artist from Chimwankhunda, Blantyre who uses candle smoke to create amazing artworks.

Basically, a good number of visual artists in Malawi use pens, pencils, charcoal and paint to draw artworks on various mediums. But Thandi Mjima is such an inspiration artist who has embraced innovation in order to pioneer the use of candle smoke in creating artworks.

She was among the four female visual artists who exhibited at Kwa Haraba Arts Gallery in Blantyre from November 27 to 29 during the Southern region Arts exhibition.

Mjima also exhibited at Chichiri Shopping Centre’s M-Theater during a concert by Lawi. Apart from the recent exhibitions, Mjima has exhibited at Blantyre Arts Festival (BAF) and Mwezi Wawala Arts Festival.

She told On the Arts that she is yet to unveil her art of using the candle smoke.

Mjima said: “It is one of those innovations learned from somewhere that I am about to pioneer in Malawi. It involves a lot of creativity and detail, and only those that truly appreciate arts can acquaint with this. But I can assure you that candle smoke is just another amazing means to creating compelling visual artworks.”

She also said she enjoys experimenting with different materials, including the candle smoke, to produce her own original materials she calls mixed media that come in different styles such as landscape. Originally, mixed media mingles different materials such as ink, paint, candle smoke and pencil on the canvas in order to create distinctive artworks.

The 27-year-old however, bemaons the lack of art appreciation in Malawi: “Art is such a treasured thing which originates from imagination and creativity yet most Malawians don’t appreciate it. However, this does not stop me from doing more because I am passionate about arts.” n