Michael Kasvinge · CV
Sculptor Michael Kasvinge was born in 1984 as the son of a farm worker in the village of Mudindo in the Guruve region. During his school years, he spent the vacations with his brother, the sculptor Farai Kasvinge, at the Tengenenge artists' colony, where he also discovered his passion for stone carving.
Tengenenge is now an internationally renowned artists' colony in the field of sculpture in Zimbabwe. The artists' village was once founded by Tom Blomefield, a now deceased white African from the Netherlands. Today, the colony is run by a team of sculptors from Zimbabwe. Tengenenge means "beginning of the beginning". Numerous artists who learned their sculpting trade in Tengenenge became famous beyond the country's borders in Europe and America.
After finishing school, Michael Kasvinge moved to Tengenenge in 2002. Kasvinge has long since moved away from his former role model, the sculptor Jack Jonas, and has found his very own style. His favorite motifs for sculptures are human figures and animals.
What is unique about Kasvinge's work is the inclusion of the effect of the untreated "natural stone serpentine" in the individual art object. Most of his sculptures show parts of the rough, blotchy surface of the serpentine stone, which appears to be covered in moss or natural lichen. As an exciting contrast to this, other parts of the sculptures are polished to a matt light gray. Particularly prominent parts of the figures are waxed and polished. They appear deep black and shiny. Each sculpture thus contains different stages of processing of the original stone, which gives Michael Kasvinge's work a particular vibrancy.
In addition, the artist is a particularly cheerful, positive-thinking person, which is reflected in his choice of motifs and the expression of the stone figures he creates. Michael Kasvinge's sculptures - like the artist himself - spread good cheer and enrich life with their warm-hearted charisma.
The artist has a wife and three children.