Prince Tom’s solo exhibition ode to late mother
For his late mother, this would have been a moment to savour as visual artist Prince Tom staged a successful solo exhibition dubbed the ‘Ballad of a Butterfly’ last Friday at Grand Palm Hotel Casino Resort.
It was indeed a beautiful ode and a ballad to his late mother as the artist showcased 25 paintings and nine body art models. His mother, Khumo Tom, passed away in 2011 when he was doing his Form 1. Her death coincided with the time he was introduced to Art as a subject.
“She also must be so proud in her resting place. It was unlike anything we’d ever seen before. One would say a revolution of art in our time,” reflected Prince Tom.
A ballad is a short love story often a short poem with at least three stanzas or a short love song. Prince Tom had decided to go with an exhibition of a limited number of large canvas paintings and body art models to pay homage to her late mother. He stated that her mother introduced him to art when was about six-years-old and just a year before her death had also helped him win his first ever art accolades.
“The butterfly represents her. Also if you study my paintings very well, you’ll realise that there’s at least one butterfly in every painting,” he added.
He continued: “This is a way for me to communicate with her in the spiritual realm, showing her that I’m still listening and that I am doing what she never lived to see me do, Art, at this professional level. I decided to dedicate the butterfly to her because she loved gardening and we used to do gardening together. Flowers meant that I often saw butterflies.”
The 25-year-old artist said the feedback he received from the attendees will continue to motivate him. For him, making a lasting impression on the people who view his art is an inspiration on its own; therefore, he is happy that people who attended the show can’t stop talking about it to this day.
“As an artist, it truly warms up my heart to see Batswana appreciate art to this level,” he said.
Prince Tom said while he usually uses different oil and acrylic paint, pencils, charcoal, mural works, clothes customisation, body art, and mixed media to produce artwork, this exhibition was only limited to canvas paintings and body art.
He highlighted that the exhibition was an inspiration for him to keep riding the tide as he gears up for his next exhibition in 2023. He intends to make this exhibition an annual one. He said he is grateful to Grand Palm for allowing him to showcase his talent at their venue. This collaboration, he said, is a revolution to the art industry in the country. Prince Tom hosted the exhibition alongside Thabo Kgatlwane, who is an art curator.
For a young curator, Kgatlwane has overseen 10 art exhibitions worth over a million pula in his career.