Lerato Motau
Artist’s Statement
Her artistic practice is deeply personal, with each stitch representing a symbolic journey and a form of emotional healing that allows her to communicate without words. Motau's work often celebrates womanhood, friendship, and Shangaan ancestry, the latter represented through the use of vibrant neon "mashangane" colours and traditional embroidery techniques. Recently, she has focused on circular forms and planetary themes, inspired by her children's drawings and the universal cycles of life. By fusing painting with hand-stitching on fabric, she creates textured, layered "embroidered tellings" that invite viewers to engage with her unique visual perception and the beauty of resilience.
Biography
Lerato Motau (born 1970) is an internationally renowned South African fibre artist and teacher based in Orlando West, Soweto. Despite facing significant learning barriers due to dyslexia, she turned her love for art into a lifeline, obtaining a Fine Arts and Teaching Diploma from the Johannesburg Art Foundation in 1998. Her distinguished career includes major public commissions, such as the 17-metre-long Fabric of the Universe hanging at the Leonardo Hotel in Sandton, and her work is featured in prestigious corporate collections including Nando's, Absa, and FNB. She has exhibited globally in countries like China, Finland, and the UK, and continues to teach embroidery to children to show them that academia is not the only path to success.
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