Zanoxolo Slyvestre Mqeku (b. year unknown) is a South African ceramic artist whose practice is defined by the innovative use of sand casting, a technique he has refined over the past fifteen years. Raised in Mount Fletcher and Umtata in the Eastern Cape, Mqeku’s formative experiences with the natural environment shaped a sensibility attuned to the textures, colours, and rhythms of the earth. His academic path—from a foundation in art at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, through studies in Architectural Technology, and culminating in a B-Tech in Fine Art and a Master’s in Design and Studio Art—reflects a commitment to both technical rigor and conceptual depth, particularly in sandcast ceramics, fabrication technologies, and public creative practice.

Sand casting serves as both medium and methodology for Mqeku, enabling an intimate dialogue between human intervention and environmental responsiveness. The technique embodies an ethical and philosophical approach to materiality: each work is produced in consideration of anthropogenic impact, with an emphasis on taking from nature only what can be returned. This process transforms the earth itself into an active participant in the artwork, positioning sand, clay, and water as recording tools that archive memory, gesture, and presence. The resulting sculptures and reliefs are simultaneously site-specific and universal, capturing traces of the body, mind, and environment in forms that endure for millennia.

Central to Mqeku’s work is the notion of mark-making as a fundamental human instinct. Drawing inspiration from South African artist Judith Mason, he situates his practice within a lineage that acknowledges the profound human impulse to leave imprints on surfaces, from cave walls to sandbanks. By committing his body and memory to the textures of sand and clay, Mqeku creates works that resonate with both immediacy and longevity, merging tactile engagement with conceptual reflection. The earth’s surface becomes a site of exploration, a canvas for the investigation of human presence and responsibility, as well as a repository of memory and cultural narrative.

Mqeku’s work articulates a meditation on the intersection of environment, human activity, and creative agency. Through careful manipulation of sand and clay, he transforms ephemeral impressions into enduring objects, offering a visual language that communicates both fragility and resilience. His practice emphasizes sustainability and reflection, inviting viewers to consider the ethical and material implications of human intervention in the natural world.

By bridging traditional ceramic techniques with contemporary fabrication technologies, Mqeku establishes a dynamic practice that is at once rooted in South African heritage and engaged with global artistic discourse. His sandcast ceramics are not merely objects but enduring interventions, capturing human gestures while honoring the agency and richness of the earth itself. In this way, Mqeku’s art becomes a dialogue across time and space, a reflection on our imprint upon the world, and a call to engage with it responsibly and imaginatively.