Title: "Loving Family"
Material: Fruit Serpentine
Artist: Ernest Chiwaridzo
Country: Zimbabwe
Dimensions: 16 1/2" height x 11" width x 5 1/2" depth
Description: Ernest was born in a family of six on the 12th of
July 1954, in Chiweshe district of Mazowe. He went to St Albans
mission school from grade one through to grade six. He continued
secondary school at Harare community school until 1970 when
he left school due to lack of funding. Working as an auto
electrician at Buchwa mine in 1978, he began sculpting in wood
and stone mainly as a hobby.
He began to work full time in 1979 as a sculptor in Chitungwiza,
near Harare, with fellow sculptors until 1983. In that same year,
he moved to Canon Paterson Arts and Crafts Centre in Mbare until
2001, concentrating on the medium of stone. He now works in his
own studio, where he is also grooming young artists. His work is
very distinctive with exceptionally clean forms and lines being his
trademark. He is an outstanding Zimbabwean “rock star”.
