Simphiwe Ndzube’s vivid scenes— painting, sculpture, assemblage, and installation—realize figurative forms as protrusions from colorfully uncanny landscapes. Bright and immediately involving, the commanding playfulness of his compositions serve an intensity that renders history’s hallucination of the human as a creaturely deformation of territory and affective possibility.

In this studio visit, Ndzube reflects on the decolonial imperative of the South African art scene that nurtured and educated him, his relation to houseless residents of LA, and his recent fascination with tongues and umbrellas.