[The] runner-up for this year’s SASOL New Signatures Visual Art Competition, Still Standing (2025) is a quiet meditation on the resilience of the human spirit against the odds. Like the previous works that the artist entered into the art competition in 2022, Thabo ya nnete and in 2023 Restoration, see figure 2 and 3, it concerns itself with someone who is quite known to the artist as it will emerge in the present interview. My aim in this interview was to make sense of the rich symbolism notable in Mofokeng’s work. However, a common thread that connects his works as far as SASOL New Signatures Visual Art Competition as a contemporary showcase of the visual art is concerned is that the work is the recognition of our inner selves as something akin to profoundness beyond limitations.

HERE IS HIS ARTIST’S STATEMENT
"My art is inspired by the resilience and courage of my neighbor, who, despite being paralysed from a gunshot wound, embodies a spirit that radiates like gold. His determination to live life to the fullest, without letting his physical disability define him, is a testament to the human spirit's capacity for strength and adaptability. 

Through this art, I aim to capture the essence of his unbroken soul, which shines brightly despite adversity. I want to convey the message that our worth and value are far beyond our physical abilities, and our true strength lies within us. 

Like gold, we go through intense fire, but come out shining as purified gold. If difficulties of life cannot kill us, they make us more alive than before. It doesn't matter how the world sees us; what matters is how we see ourselves in God's eyes. 

This art piece is a tribute to my neighbour's inspiring spirit and a celebration of the human capacity for resilience, hope, and determination."

 15 October

© Mmutle Arthur Kgokong, 2025

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To reference this audio documentation, please cite:

Kgokong, M.A. 2025. Intraparadox, Interview with Thabo Treasure Mofokeng. Still standing. 4 Sep 2025. SNS25EditAmbient Mix. Mmutleak.com-Intraparadox.

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Reference credits

List of figures

1. Mofokeng, Thabo Treasure. Still Standing (2025). Acrylic on canvas. 38 cm x 38 cm. See SASOL New Signatures Visual Art Competition 2025 Catalogue (page 15).
2. Mofokeng, Thabo Treasure. Thabo ya nnete (2022). Acrylic paint. 208.5 cm x 150 cm. See SASOL New Signatures Visual Art Competition 2022 Catalogue (page 46).
3. Mofokeng, Thabo Treasure. Restoration (2023). Acrylic paint and glass. 180 cm x 152 cm. See SASOL New Signatures Visual Art Competition 2023 Catalogue (page 20).

Titbyteful

In 2022, Thabo Treasure Mofokeng’s entry, Thabo ya nnete (2022), was part of the finalists’ exhibition for the SASOL New Signatures Visual Art Competition. That was the year the then Durban-based Mondli Augustine Mbhele won the overall prize with his fabric collage titled Iphasi nesiphesheli (2022), and Omolemo Rammile was the runner-up with an embossing on Fabriano simply titled Mére célibataire (single mom). In 2023, the year in which Nosiviwe Matikinca from GQ, Gqeberha in formal parlance, won the first prize with the work Ndiziphiwe – They were given to me (2023), Mofokeng’s entry, Restoration (2023), got a merit award nod in an equally contested year wherein Themba Mkhangeli[1] from Cape Town won the Runner-up prize with the hyperrealistic ballpoint pen drawing Amawele.

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[1] It must be noted that Mkhangeli, entered SASOL New Signatures in 2024 again this time with a work dedicated to his grandmother titled Ubushushu Bekhaya (The Warmth of Home), ballpoint pen on paper, and won a merit award for that entry.

Afterwords

* Original image of Thabo Treasure Mofokeng courtesy of SASOL New Signatures Visual Art Competition.
** Images of artworks
<> I remain grateful to Thabo Treasure Mofokeng for agreeing to sit with me for this interview. Le ka moso.

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