Nkosingiphile Mazibuko
South Africa
Creative / Artist
Heritage & Technology
"Mother knows best.” Nkosingiphile Mazibuko attests to this quote every day of his life. Everything he knows about art is thanks to his mother. She was an artistic woman who shared the beauty that is Art with her son. He was raised in Soweto, which seems to be an incubation center for grooming young artists. Nkosingiphile, or Mazi as he is known, is a 2015 Fine Art graduate from the Walter Sisulu University. While it has not been an easy road, picking a career was not as daunting as it is for many. His vision fueled his determination. In 2015 he made it through a grueling boot camp to take up a stint as a design recruit at Umuzi Academy. Through no fault of his own he, had to make a difficult decision which cut short this opportunity. Undeterred, by 2016 he had picked up his painting brushes at Egoli Textile Designs. Mazi is also a graduate of Friends of Design in Cape Town.
He worked on one of the nation’s favorite Pan-African football-themed comics, Super Strikas. His collaborations include MTV SHUGA drama series comic book. His work includes being part of the award-winning Childhood Development organisation Book Dash in 2017 as a designer on a children's book titled "And Also” created in collaboration with Lauren Beukes as the writer and Anja Venter as an illustrator. He survived this unique experience the first time and in April 2018 volunteered again to collaborate with Mahale Mashigo (writer) and Clyde Beech (illustrator) on a book for young children titled "Where is Lulu". He collaborated with South Africa’s first black superhero comic book name Kwezi, as an Inker, Colourist and Letterist on issue 10, 11 and 12. He was a top three finalist at the Eastern Cape Arts & Culture Awards for Best 2D Visual Artist 2019/2020. He currently works as a Junior Exhibition Designer at Iziko South African Museum in Cape Town. He is the founder of his skill sharing Community Development Project, Mazi Art and Design Creative School.
Mazi’s life is a reflection of his art. In his words “drawing and illustrating is a camera I use to capture everything in my surroundings”. He is definitely the epitome of “art imitates life, and life imitates art”.
He worked on one of the nation’s favorite Pan-African football-themed comics, Super Strikas. His collaborations include MTV SHUGA drama series comic book. His work includes being part of the award-winning Childhood Development organisation Book Dash in 2017 as a designer on a children's book titled "And Also” created in collaboration with Lauren Beukes as the writer and Anja Venter as an illustrator. He survived this unique experience the first time and in April 2018 volunteered again to collaborate with Mahale Mashigo (writer) and Clyde Beech (illustrator) on a book for young children titled "Where is Lulu". He collaborated with South Africa’s first black superhero comic book name Kwezi, as an Inker, Colourist and Letterist on issue 10, 11 and 12. He was a top three finalist at the Eastern Cape Arts & Culture Awards for Best 2D Visual Artist 2019/2020. He currently works as a Junior Exhibition Designer at Iziko South African Museum in Cape Town. He is the founder of his skill sharing Community Development Project, Mazi Art and Design Creative School.
Mazi’s life is a reflection of his art. In his words “drawing and illustrating is a camera I use to capture everything in my surroundings”. He is definitely the epitome of “art imitates life, and life imitates art”.
