Artist's Biography
Nyakallo Maleke (b.1993) is an artist and writer based in Johannesburg. Maleke earned her Master of Art degree - with distinction, in Public Sphere at the École de design et haute école dʼart du Valais (édhéa) in Switzerland (2019), where her research utilised the medium of drawing to think through notions of migration, vulnerability, and writing about
public space. She has a bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from Wits University (2015) and has participated in group exhibitions at venues including NGO ‒ Nothing Gets Organised (Johannesburg, South Africa), Stevenson (Cape Town, South Africa), and Modzi Arts Gallery (Lusaka, Zambia).
Artist's Statement
Her practice is grounded in an expanded concept of drawing, which she views as a means to tell stories about space, movement, and walking. Maleke drawings take shape through various media, techniques, and disciplines, and are manifested as installations, performances, sound pieces, prints, or sculptures. Her recent works are invested with materiality, often combining traditional drawing media with meticulous embroidery-like stitching and unconventional materials such as wax paper.
