Tumisang Khalipha is a visual artist and printmaker who was born in a rural village in the North West of South Africa called Mahikeng. He later moved in 2003 with his family to Johannesburg, South Africa. Despite the common disapproval of unconventional career paths in African communities, Khalipha enjoyed the support of his father who validated his dream of becoming an artist. Khalipha shared a memory from his childhood where he remembered painting his bedroom and dining room in every possible color in an interview with Vaughn Thiel, the founder of Stay Low Label.
Khalipha has become a prominent figure in the art community, creating figurative art using a diverse range of mediums such as acrylic, charcoal, watercolor, pencil, and even coffee on paper and canvases of varying sizes. Khalipha’s work is reflective of his personal experiences. His use of water as a medium is reminiscent of his rural upbringing where he had to use water from rivers and streams that were not always pure enough for human consumption, which affected his health as a child. Khalipha incorporated this experience into his art, using water as a medium and turning his life story into a conceptual element that is present in his paintings.
According to Latitude, “under the mentorship of Sharon Sampson, Tumisang Khalipha expresses his creative skills through printmaking and other mediums of preference. He has attended printmaking classes at Edition Vary – Parkhurst in 2017, coached by the linocut specialist Jan Tshikhuthula & drypoint expert Lebohang Sithole. He recently completed his third year, studying Printmaking at Artist Proof Studios”.
In May 2022, Khalipha was signed to Stay Low, a management company representing some of South Africa’s most talented artists, including Priddy Ugly, Mars Baby, Bontle Modiselle, Lordkez, and others. Khalipha is known for his signature style, which combines texture with nostalgia, and this style is prominently displayed in a mural at Bontle Modiselle’s dance studio in the Hallmark House Hotel. He also created the cover art for Priddy Ugly’s highly praised second album, SOIL. Additionally, in late 2022, he launched his own art studio in New Doornfontein.
