BY NYADZOMBE NYAMPENZA
CHANGE can be visible to others, and less so to the subject, the late sculpture Bernard Matemera’s carving Man Turning into a Hippo is a mythical creature that reveals the instability of human nature.
Carved in 1986, the adult size sculpture is exhibited along Julius Nyerere Way, outside the National Gallery of Zimbabwe in Harare.
Matemera’s work is a study for a critical turning point. It raises difficult questions. Will this change be for good or evil?
The piece’s solid form contradicts the transformative title, The Man Turning into a Hippo as it looks like an overgrown baby, whose malformed physical attributes appeared like those of a foetus in the womb.
Three fingers to a hand and three toes on a foot are indicators that the subject is evolving into an animal.
Neither man nor beast, the sculpture is caught in the middle of an alchemical process.
The creatures’ weird posture makes it look uncomfortable standing on two legs.
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There is a satirical sense of humour to its body’s unusual anatomical proportions.
As if the artist was teasing the subject in playful mockery, the dark colour of the stone gives the man a familiar and relatable complexion.
Human beings have a great capacity to transform themselves, this is demonstrated by conducts such as lifting weights for physical fitness, skin bleaching, and various types of cosmetic surgery.
The need to recreate one may be spiritual, or psychological. Transformation is usually progressive and undetectable. Sometimes the change is immediate and revolutionary.
The myth of man turning into a beast can be read as embracing of totem and immersion into its virtues.
It may also symbolise a regression towards baser instincts.
Matemera’s work presents an enigma. The work continues to evoke speculation, almost two decades after the artist died.
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