Gaborone — Kefilwe Mokopane is as daring as they come. The 25-year-old art teacher says although international masters of abstract cubism like Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque inspire him, he has an independent streak that has made him dabble with a lot of bright colours in his artworks, that more often than not feature musical scenes and instruments.

Asked why he is into contemporary abstract cubism, which many Batswana do not seem to appreciate, the artist responds: "I have never intended my works to be imitations, rather I wanted them to have their own originality." According to Mokopane, a 'revolutionary movement' in the early 20th century pioneered abstract art. At around the same time, the 'pioneers' declared that abstract cubism was a work of art that existed on its own right rather than as a representation of the real world.

Mokopane, who grew up in the village of Mahalapye in the Central District, says that as a child, he started noting that he had a potential to make it in the arts world when his wire car toys sold faster than those assembled by his peers. His interest in the visual arts persisted when he started his primary education but unfortunately for him art was not taught seriously at that level.

The dreadlocked artist says that he first did art as a subject at Mothamo Community Junior Secondary School (CJSS) in Moiyabana where he put his focus in the form of art called realism, which was then popular among arts students. After competing his junior secondary education, he proceeded to Moeding Senior Secondary School at Otse.

"At Moeding I continued to pursue realism until towards the end of my Cambridge when I got introduced to abstract," he recalls.It was 'love at first sight' for the budding artist who started enthusiastically pursing this form of art. Mokapane's love for art took him to Molepolole College of Education (MCE) where he trained as a teacher, majoring in art. The artist says that at first he thought he would follow a career in music upon completion of his course but the fact that he was not good at singing discouraged him.

"I then thought to myself, why don't I use music and musical instruments as themes for my art works?" reminisces the artist.

That gave birth to Mokopane's abstract 'musical artworks'. Mmegi took time to savour some of the artist's catchy and appetising works, Mokapane's Abstract Composition has an abstract touch to it as the name suggests and the theme is music. By the artist's admission the mix media artwork is not easy to interpret, hence the title.

Lines Representing Harmony is an oil-on-canvas piece that seeks to convey the thought that for music fans to appreciate music better there has to be harmony between the instruments and the vocals. The Trumpet captures an entertainment scene where musical instruments are being played and liquor, represented by glasses, is flowing. Another hard to interpret piece is Rhythm, which showcases big and small circles and lines but one can understand them to mean that there should be coherence in the pattern of beats and emphasis in a piece of music. One thing common about all the pieces is that they are in bright colours such as lime, purple, pink and orange. According to the artist, one of the primary reason why he uses bright colours is to attract the eye of a potential buyer, which he believes is a good marketing strategy. He is empathetic that his pieces are affordable given that the cheapest goes for P 1, 000 while the most expensive goes for P 6, 000.

Though he has never won any significant award recently, his artworks always get special mentions and displays at awards ceremonies. Mokopane, who is a member of Thapong Visual Arts Centre, operates from the open studio at the centre. He envisages opening his own studio in the near future. At the moment, he has a small business called Modern Art Academy that deals in fine arts, graphics, ceramics, interior decorations, printing, digital imaging and supplying readymade canvases, among other things. He currently employs only one person.

The artist says that apart from Picasso and Braque, locals like the former Thapong coordinator, Ziki Kraai and his fellow artist Mogorosi Modisane have inspired him. The artist says that the latter always critiques his works. In a move to give back to the society, he has taken two students, Ompatile Mapete and Karabo Mothibi under his wing and he mentors them free of charge.