“At the end of the day we can endure much more than we think we can.” – Frida Kahlo
The Johannesburg-based, Ugandan-born self-taught artist, Patrick Seruwu, echoes Kahlo's sentiment by presenting his gratitude and respect for the impact women have played in his life journey thus far. Whether due to the influence of being raised by a single mother, or due to the nurturing presence of adopted mothers, sisters and aunts in his adopted country of South Africa, he continually finds himself amongst. The multitude of female narratives of strength and struggle, Seruwu collects from interactions with women sprinkled throughout Johannesburg get fed into his gestural canvas paintings. These depictions do not take the form of a typical portrait; this is to say, one will not find a portrait of a Sarah, Lerato, Thembisile or Nompumelelo, but instead the viewer is presented with an amalgamation of multiple stories and experiences, presented in human form, which take on a very expressive form.