Faith47 is a self-taught contemporary street artist artist originally from Cape Town, South Africa.
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She was born in 1979. In 1997 Faith was introduced to graffiti and influenced by wealz130 of the YMB crew.[1] Together they had a son who is also an up and coming artist, named Cashril+. In 2010 Faith was invited to participate in an international mural project in china.[2] Here she exhibited alongside a chinese street artist DAL. Five months later Faith and DAL were married in South Africa.
Faith draws inspiration from her existential questions.[3] She ventures off into places where others might not venture into. Faith is humbled by the destructive and creative nature in human life. Her paintings are both metaphorical and meaningful. She tries to convey a message that is abstract and definitive. Looking for meaning in the words, life, death, and freedom.
She does not have a mission statement. She believes there is no ultimate truth. Faith designs images on unusual canvases like broken-down cars, old factories, on the side roads of ghost towns, and inner city alleyways. She embraces the fact that these works are temporary, allowing the photograph to immortalise the moment. Her attraction to lost spaces allows her to bring attention to forgotten places. “Her interactions resonate with our fragility and our elusive relationship with dreams, memory and human, interaction, reflecting harmonious and sometimes dark tones.” Her South African roots allows her to explore her own deep, raw, and sometimes violent country.[4] The streets are dangerous and the people are tough. Faith chooses the places to paint in by the texture, the wall, or the environment surrounding it.[5]
Although initially recognised for her graffiti work, it became evident that her work was more expansive then traditional graffiti. Focusing on her studio work and constantly exploring new ways to paint on the street she has become recognised as an important contemporary artist. In her studio work, one can see the influence of the messages and scrawlings and textures that she finds in the South African streets, an important example of this would be the two arches that she created for rik reinkings street art show at the Von der Heydt Museum, germany in 2011. In 'la mierda que tenemos que atravesar nadando' and 'horridas nostrae mentis purga tenebras' one can see direct images of gang and vagrant graffiti assimilated into her work.[6]
She has received international attention for her work, and has participated in galleries, shows, and projects all over the world.[1][7][8][9][10] In 2011, On The Run Publishers published a book on the early work of Faith47.[11]
Faith47 features in the 2010 South African documentary, The Creators (documentary film). In the film her son, Cashril+, shares his thoughts and dreams with the audience while Faith paints murals in and around Cape Town [12].