From Barbie sketches to museum mosaic – Gqeberha artist captures South End's spirit

Daily Maverick

3 days ago

At just 21, Gqeberha artist Nadia Foster has transformed South End Museum's emblem into a striking mosaic, a project that tested her patience and skill. From sketching Barbies as a child to public art commissions, her journey reflects quiet determination and enduring passion.
Nadia Foster, a 21-year-old Gqeberha-based fine artist has created a mosaic art piece on the outside of South End Museum, and while she is now receiving many compliments, completing it was a challenge.
Foster discovered her love for art at eight years old, in a rather unique way.
'I used to love colouring books, but I didn't have many. My cousin, on the other hand, had many,' she quietly says. So Foster got her hands on plain paper and first copied the Barbie dolls from her cousin's books, in order to colour them in.
'I never needed to put the books under a paper and trace it out, I just looked at them, and copied them onto a plain paper.'
It never occurred to Foster that being able to draw in that much detail was a talent: 'For me, the focus was colouring, it gave me an escape from interacting with people.'
At Saint Thomas Senior Secondary School, Foster and her other artist friends, including childhood friend Lucreshia Abdool, enjoyed art classes so much they would often volunteer to clean the art room, just to have it as their hangout spot.
'When the rest of us would leave the art class, we'd have dirty fingers and maybe a spot on the forehead, but Nadia's whole body would be filled with paint. We always wondered how,' Abdool laughed.
'When Nadia is engaged with her work, she blocks out everything and just gets completely consumed; she's always been like that. And so, whatever success she achieves, I'm never surprised.'
Foster, who tries her best not to speak too much, says she doesn't do too well with compliments and crowded spaces.
'What I love the most about art is the freedom to be messy, and the fact that I'm a perfectionist means that I can take the time I need to produce something I am satisfied with.'
Talented
Michael Barry, who used to teach art at Saint Thomas, always knew that Foster was very talented, even though he never taught her. Barry is also one of the trustees at the South End Museum, and because of Foster's commitment to art, he encouraged her to apply to be part of the Expanded Public Works Programme's project that funded artists.
'The project is aimed at artists, promoting their work and creating a platform for them to create their art and have art exhibitions. That contract, even though it's usually only for a few months, helps artists with salaries. The state of unemployment in the industry is terrible, and I feel that young people tend to just give up,' Barry said.
Barry said he always tried to inspire young artists to fight for their art, and not avoid the tedious administrative work that goes into taking on opportunities.
'I say to them they should light a candle instead of cursing the darkness. They should also volunteer more, put themselves out there, get exposure and experience.'
Foster is often asked by Barry to create artworks for the museum and other initiatives. Earlier this year, she was asked to create a mosaic of the museum's emblem.
'I knew it was going to be a challenge because of the different, very detailed elements of it, but I'm always up for a challenge,' Foster said. Barry agreed, saying: 'We chose her because she's one of the most patient artists. I knew she would be up for it.'
Foster's process started with drawing the emblem with a pencil.
'That process is probably the longest, because it has to be perfect. The game fish element took long, and most of my time, actually, because I wanted it to fully represent its meaning of the fighting spirit. I worked harder on the fig tree as well, and when you see it, you can tell — it represents growth and endurance. All things I love about this beautiful metro.'
History and values
The mosaic was made using tiles, stones and glass. The emblem incorporates symbols of the community's history and values: a ship for the 1820 settlers, a fig tree with deep roots for growth, endurance, and cultural diversity, and a game fish for the people's fighting spirit.
Education is represented by a school building, while fish hooks and the old harbour jetty reflect the fishing industry. A tram signifies the role of transportation in South End's past.
Emma O'Brien, assistant director at The Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Museum, says they too are working with crafters in order to create platforms for sales and for opportunities for exposure. The two museums have partnered up on some projects, including the one Foster is involved in.
'We're finding that the industry itself lacks support. So, we developed a proposal saying, well, can we run a project?'
O'Brien said they facilitated arrangements where more senior artists worked with junior artists on exhibitions and art creation.
She added that the initiative Foster was involved with had been running for three years. O'Brien said the main goal was to create an environment where artists were able to sustain themselves, have exhibitions and make sales.
This is something that Foster is looking forward to one day.