10 South African Womxn Illustrators on our Radar (Part-1)

South Africa, like many other African countries, boasts an abundance of creative talents. We wanted to shine a light on a few womxn illustrators we believe are crossing boundaries while creating great pieces of art.

Lethabo Huma

Lethabo Huma is a Pretoria based illustrator and ‘digital painter’ as she describes herself. The 21-year-old artist displays expressive portraiture with the fusion of stars, formed lines, and soft background hues. Drawing inspiration from elements she can resonate with, Huma uses her work as a way to portray her emotional and mental response to life’s experiences. She ultimately aims to evoke emotion and thought in her viewers.

Phathu Nembilwi

Full-time illustrator Phathu Nembilwi finds happiness in her artistic expression. Highly influenced by strong female figures in her life, she features women exuding grace and self-ownership followed by her floral, tropical background aesthetic. Her work celebrates the natural beauty and strength of women, as they go about normal everyday activities.

Sinomonde Ngwane

Durban based artist Sinomonde Ngwane brings forth emotive illustrations from a place of relatability. Her modest artworks marry words with visuals that take inspiration from personal experiences and those of others.  An avid reader of poetry, Sinomonde looks to words as an influence.

Phila Hillie

Phila Hillie places women at the center of her inspiration for her work. As an architecture graduate, she interrogates the various avenues of how her subject matter can be represented. With loud color and the use of simple shapes as seen in her work, she aims to tell the stories of women, their struggles, beauty, and everyday way of living.

Snalo Ngcaba

East London-born and Johannesburg-based designer and illustrator Sinalo Ngcaba holds scintillating illustrations to her name with a tone of unplumbed, contrasting collages that play on internet trends. Valiant lines and shapes with defined edges describe her minimalistic modern style, which she achieves digitally. Snalo opts for loud colors and shades over textures to convey mood.