A series of artworks inspired by the Mandela House in Soweto and other similar matchbox houses in the African townships. Created for  an African restaurant in Athens, Greece.

I love Africa! For me it's a constant source of inspiration and a solid point of reference for my life. I have travelled many times to the continent and I have studied Africa's culture for long. This is a series of artworks inspired by the everyday African life but to also pay a tribute to Shaka Zulu and the long tradition of Zulus, Ndebele, Xhosa and all tribes of the land. They are created for and African restaurant in Athens.
The basic element I used is the brick. Borrowed directly from the typical matchbox houses in the African townships the brick for me is a symbol of people's creativity. A symbol of courage to build a safe place for the family. My bricks are sometimes stable and others unstable. And they are filled with other forms of African creativity. Fabrics, art, leather, animal skins...
I have printed these digital files on wood in 8 colours. Collaborating with the great team of Quality Printing Solutions, we have printed in a Swiss Q Impala 2 printer. 7 colours plus white. The white ink is used under some of the bricks in various shades, creating the illusion that the bricks are pieces of paper or metal that are sticked on the wood. 
We have added 3 layers of UV on the final artwork adding dimension to the artwork.

You can now purchase limited edition signed and numbered art prints from this series here: 
The digital Illustrations:
African culture art, black woman with a pot, digital mosaic from patterns
The water girl.
47.3" x 71.0", Digital print (7 colors + white with UV layer) on wood.
High resolution version here.
A woman with clothes on her head, African bricks mosaic art
Staring at the sun.
86.8" x 45.3"  Digital print (7 colors + white with UV layer) on wood.
High resolution image here.
A Mother with a Child, an African culture scene, Contemporary mosaic art
Working mother and child
47.3" x 71.0", Digital print (7 colors + white with UV layer) on wood.
High resolution version here.
Pap lady, African culture tribute, digital mosaic art
The Pap lady
41.0" x 55.3", Digital print (7 colors + white with UV layer) on wood.
High resolution version here.
African woman in a costume, digital art from African bricks
A Zulu girl
41.0" x 55.3", Digital print (7 colors + white with UV layer) on wood.
High resolution version here.
A Zulu Warrior, African Bricks artwork series for restaurant decor
A Zulu warrior
27.6" x 27.6" Digital print (7 colors + white with UV layer) on wood.
High resolution version here.
Shaka Zulu in contemporary art, African Bricks Mosaics
Shaka Zulu
27.6" x 27.6" Digital print (7 colors + white with UV layer) on wood.
High resolution version here.
The final artworks:
African Art in Digital art print for wall decor
African Fine art prints, Contemporary artists
Zulu tradition, Fighting Kid in an African Contemporary Mosaic art
African township art, Contemporary artworks
African life artwork, A Girl with a Pap, Contemporary art collection, Pap Lady art
Shaka Zulu artwork, Contemporary African art for interiors
Maternity in a Contemporary Art Installation, African Bricks Art
Modern Mosaics for African restaurant decor, digital mosaic
Some details:
African Bricks project detail, high-quality limited prints
African creativity symbol in contemporary art, creative images montage
Wood texture in African mosaics, Contemporary art commissions
Mosaic texture from digital to analog, Modern wall art
African painting in a collage style with patterns, mosaic artwork commission
The inspiration:
The Mandela's House in Soweto and other Matchbox houses in South Africa were my source of inspiration for this series.
The house is now a museum. Some bricks have been replaced with metallic plates caring informations and some powerful words like Hope, Equality, Liberation etc.
You can also see some photos from the printing session.
 
From Mandela House to African Bricks artwork
African Bricks are the inspiration for mosaic art
Matchbox house inspiration for mosaic artworks
Courageous brick in Contemporary art decor
Brick symbolism in art for Original contemporary art
Ndebele art inspiration for artwork in collage style
Swiss Q printing on wood, Affordable contemporary art
African artworks, print on wood with Leather and skin elements, digital mural
African Bricks painting ready to hang
Created with custom developed scripts, hacks and techniques in Studio Artist, Adobe Creative Suite and Apple QuickTime Pro, listened to amazing African music.
Credits:
Artworks: Charis Tsevis
Printed by Quality Printing Solutions S.A.. Many thanks to Stefanos Makriyannis and his great team.
Restaurant photos: Marios Theologis.
Mandela's Soweto house photos by A. Bailey and Jack Tomczuk.
A variety of photos have been used from numerous photographers as reference, most of them are unknown to me. I would gladly mention anyone helped in this project.

Thanks for stopping by. 

Sanibonani!​​​​​​​
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