Tabula rasa is a clean slate; it’s the belief that all human beings are born blank. That’s the point from which South African conceptual artist Yonela Makoba approached her first solo exhibition, Kwantlandlolo, the Xhosa word for ‘a beginning’. Through multiple mediums, Makoba engages with themes of gender and race by challenging their limitations, and demanding an identity free of labels.

The exhibition took place during Investec Cape Town Art Fair as part of Orms Circle, an annual mentorship programme awarded to promising artists. Within the walls of a reformed church, she showcased a series of eight striking photographs, a resin sculpture and a performance art piece, using herself and her body to explore what it means to wipe yourself clean of guilt, shame, trauma and society’s limitations.

Born and raised in Mthatha, a town in the Eastern Cape, Makoba was one of seven children. “Growing up there has definitely influenced my work. I reference class, Xhosa culture, the divide between urban and rural,” she explains. “In many ways, it’s because of my upbringing that I’m exploring what it means to be wiped clean of labels and the things that have hindered me. My work is about dreaming of something different, something bigger, for the girl from Mthatha.”

At 19, she moved to Cape Town to study environmental and geographical science, and began working as a stylist shortly after graduating. She taught herself photography, creative direction and video art, and was soon showing her work in group exhibitions.

In 2018, Makoba joined an Anybody Zine movement residency and was afforded the opportunity to go to Tokyo to learn Butoh, a traditional form of Japanese dance. She spent three months there, and embarked on a spiritual journey that would serve as the foundation for her current body of work. “For me Butoh is a form of meditation,” she explains. “It’s allowed me to learn and unlearn things about myself, and reflect deeply in ways I wasn’t able to before.”

In the photographs for Kwantlandlolo, Makoba embodies Tangerine – a being or alter-ego full of possibility. “I created Tangerine during a dark time in my life when I was in a relationship with a gaslighter,” she recalls. “Tangerine is the queen that walked out of that relationship with all her stuff. They are strong, fearless and full of love. They are my empowered self, but I also aspire to be them at the same time.”

In one portrait, Makoba stands strong, naked and painted in white; she’s wearing a strap-on and holding a gold staff. Her chin is slightly raised as she gazes calmly and unflinchingly at the viewer. It’s a bold commentary on sexuality and gender, showing Makoba – or Tangerine – as masculine, queer, and entirely themselves. “With those photographs, I wanted to undermine the authority and power of masculinity, specifically Xhosa masculinity, and speak to the violence it often has on people like myself, and even those who supposedly benefit from it,” Makoba explains.

“I wanted to start a conversation about gender, liberty and what it means to be a ‘man’. In some ways, it’s my BDE moment, and an affirmation of erotic desires that I’ve kept on the sidelines for so long. It’s the queering of manhood, and a space for me to unpack things I’ve thought about and felt for a while.”

Although Kwantandlolo was well received, Makoba isn’t one to be overly concerned with outside opinions. “I don’t really think about how people engage with my work. When putting together this exhibition, I mainly focused on my internal process and how I’m changing and developing when creating. My aim was solely to shed light on my experiences and fears, and to position myself, and other people like myself, as holy and deserving.”

Currently, Makoba is focusing on expanding her body of work and showing Kwantandlolo in different places. But, as she makes clear: “Most importantly, you can expect to find me breathing, moving and learning to be kinder to myself, others and all living creatures.”

In this shoot exclusively for Nataal, Makoba is captured practising Butoh on a secluded beach in Cape Town, showing gratitude for her success as an artist on the cusp of great things.