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years owing to their undoubted splendour and beauty.
Makoma, who works on scrap metal and wood, has been producing magnificent art pieces in a career that has its roots firmly etched in his early childhood, when he first embraced the skills of sculpting.
His art pieces – predominated by lifesize animal figures ranging from giraffes, crocodiles, buffaloes to birds – reflect the artist’s irreversible intimacy with nature.
Makoma reflects animals engaged in different poses and postures in the thick and luxuriant bushes of Savanna.
In one interesting piece he shows a giraffe in a pleasurable discovery, ululating the warm presence of a small tick bird on its body as this communicates relief from the monstrous bites of parasitic ticks.
The towering animal – relieved from being host – lifts its lengthened neck as if to express the inexpressible euphoria with which the tick eating bird brought.
It is Makoma’s ability to merge scrap metal to produce majestic art pieces, aided by his astute finishing, his work carries with it a defining touch of class.
He also makes use of wood as material for his work as he produces a litany of birds including the traditional cocks, cockerels and wild birds showing his vast knowledge of the creatures.
Birds are pictured engaging in practices that reflect their own philosophy of pro-creation in the face of a world that harbours other creatures (human beings) and wild animals which are preoccupied with hunting down birds for relish.
Makoma thus pictures this community of birds, as he animates their life and sexuality.
The products are shown – eggs and parent birds struggling to protect new creations from a vicious community of wild creatures.
All this forms Makoma’s interesting imaginary world of birds.
Some of Makoma’s pieces are anecdotal of the life of wild animals, which he shows in a loving existence.
In what may appear as a hyperbolic presentation of the animals and the way they relate, the usually harmful and unfriendly animals are shown by Makoma shoving and embracing in an usually friendly mood, with rival animals.
So in this imaginary exceptional wild of Makoma’s creation, the lion is at peace with its surroundings as it is in harmony with the frail zebra and a host of known lion prey.
The work of Makoma is therefore laden with insights of nature and how beautiful the animal wild is in the savanna.
It is for this reason that his work has been well received by tourists from around the globe.
Some of Makoma’s life-size pieces are domiciled in Paris, South Africa, France, London and the United States of America.
Makoma has also held solo exhibitions in Johannesburg and Cape Town.
The soft-spoken sculptor said his works have had a good reception from various art lovers and buyers the world over.
He said his only regret in the field was the alarming rate at which his work is becoming a target for piracy by foreign dealers.
“My work has fallen victim to piracy. I received news that one dealer in France had registered my work under his name.
“We have since dealt with that particular case, but others are emerging,” he said.
Makoma recently left for South Africa, where he will hold a series of exhibitions.