Sibongile

Art

Ndebele and Xhosa patterns are systems. A small vocabulary of shapes, strict symmetry, and repetition that holds at any scale: change one rule and the whole surface changes with it.

I draw these by hand in Inkscape, and I sign them SB Gallery. They are the same habit of mind as my work, given room to play.

Composition: a symmetrical panel in teal and green, built from stepped borders and arrow forms around a six-pointed star.

Composition

Ndebele. One set of shapes, mirrored about a single star until the whole panel holds.

Pastel: a tall panel in orange, yellow, red and charcoal, with interlocking hooked shapes around a central star and stacked triangles at top and bottom.

Pastel

Ndebele. Hooked forms locked around a central star, stacked triangles at either end.

Warm: a horizontal band in red, yellow, orange and charcoal, with checkerboard blocks and triangles meeting at a central diamond.

Warm

Ndebele. A band of checkerboards and triangles meeting at a single diamond.

Earth colourway: an orange frame, charcoal hooked shapes, red and yellow triangles.Grey colourway: a charcoal frame, red hooked shapes, yellow triangles.Fusion colourway: a gold frame, pale grey hooked shapes, plum triangles.

One design, three colourways

Ndebele. Earth, grey and fusion: the same rules, three palettes. The structure carries the design; the colour changes its mood.

Mixed: a lattice of diamonds, each filled with small dark brown triangles stacked into larger triangles.

Mixed

Xhosa. Diamonds filled with small triangles that stack into larger ones.

Black and white: a lattice of outlined diamonds holding large and small dark brown triangles.

Black and white

Xhosa. The lattice reduced to outline and two triangle sizes.

Print: a narrow vertical strip of grey stacked triangles within green zigzag lines.

Print

Xhosa. The pattern that runs down the side of every page on this site.

Talk to Sibongile

A board question, a project or an idea: twenty minutes is usually enough to know whether we should keep talking.

Talk to Sibongile

20 minutes, at a time that suits you. Or email hello@sibongilebooi.com.

+1 437-463-8009LinkedInSunshine Coast, British Columbia