Tony Gum,
Photographer and multimedia artist coming from Cape Town, South Africa, Tony Gum takes her inspiration from South African society, especially the Xhosa ethnic group, and iconic women from pop culture.
L’OFFICIEL ART: How was it to be thrown into the art world while you were still a film student?
TONY GUM:
I entered the art world quite young. Everything happened spontaneously. I believe that there is a divine power that is intervening. I don’t stand here solely on the foundation of my own work but as a result of my parents and their efforts, and the community that I’m from, and all of them just pushing me to ensure that a young black girl is doing great!
You are currently here at the Fountainhead Residency in Miami. Is Miami a good place for art?
Throughout these past few weeks being at the Fountainhead Residency, I have been very inspired by the environment here in Miami. It reminds me of home and Cape Town specifically: the nature, the greenery, and the water. It’s been challenging in all sorts of ways. The work that I have been working on has a relation to my cat. There’s this relationship that I’ve been exploring with the cat, but it signifies something a lot deeper. It’s this relationship of pain and how much we like to nurture pain as human beings. It’s almost like we aid it when we don’t really deal with the root of the problem. So it’s this back and forth trying to figure out how I can experiment and go outside of my comfort zone, which is photography. I want to challenge myself to work with different media and that has always been my ethos, to always learn and to discover.
Are you proud to become a role model for young female artists in South Africa and across the world?
That means the world to me because when I was growing up, I moved from KwaLanga to Pinelands, from the township to the suburbs in South Africa, and it completely messed with my thinking and my emotional standpoint as a young black girl in this environment that was completely new. I wanted to see myself, and I also wanted to love myself, in front of the mirror. And to be able to work with young people is especially important for me. I work with an organization called Lalela that helps young kids at risk to get busy, to spark entrepreneurial spirit, to be centered within their artistic self. I believe we all have a voice and a story to tell, and it’s important to encourage that from a young age.
What is your relationship with social media? How do you use it as a media in your art?
My relationship with social media started very young. My artistic career branched off of social media. I had posted a lot of images, like Black Coca Cola (a 2014 self-portrait of Gum), on Instagram. That interaction with the world was important for me. It’s made navigating through the art world and networking a lot easier. It has brought about collaborating with people more quickly. Having that engagement with people that are miles and miles away is important. As much as I like to get my down time away from it, as it has its downsides, it can serve a good purpose. The artists need to be able to use that space and those platforms responsibly because they are the future and the present. They are much-needed platforms and tools to connect with people.
You often reference Frida Kahlo. What does she mean to you, and how do you place yourself in the history of female artists?
My understanding of Frida Kahlo came about when I was fifteen. I was just thinking to myself, “Who is this lady? And why is she so striking?” I appreciated her stance as a woman and the power that she brought as this very deliberate and vibrant woman. The turn towards her culture within her work was something that stood out to me. That’s radical, considering the time and the context that she was living in, to be able to take a paintbrush and say, “I’m going to paint myself because I know myself best.” I really enjoy the fact that she was vulnerable in front of people, and she was able to share her story deliberately. You need to be able to share the nooks and crannies, the details of life. It’s not always dandy, it’s not always clean, it’s not always nice.
What is your biggest wish for the future?
I’m going to bring it closer to home. I went through a lot last year. I realized that I needed to hone down everything that I’ve been working on and completely hibernate. I realized that I needed to completely focus on myself. That really changed my perspective on my ambitions for my career, my life, and my future. I want to make sure that I am completely content because at the end of the day if I’m not full and nourished inside, it all doesn’t matter.