Traveling to Naples from his home in Zimbabwe, master stone sculptor Godfrey Zonde was in town to showcase his art at The Call of Africa’s Native Visions Gallery on Wednesday.
Zonde is a tall, slim man with eyes the color of espresso. He is from a northern province of Zimbabwe called Mashonaland where colorful stones like opal, sandstone and springstone are found in abundance.
As a child, Zonde was recognized as a talented visual artist. When he got older, he followed family tradition and began sculpting.
"The stones we carve, they are from Mashonaland Province so, the Shona people there are into art," Zonde said. "That’s why in Zimbabwe we call it Shona art--it was mainly the Shonas, they do sculpting.
Zonde said sculpting came quite naturally to him, and he began making a living off of it in 1992.
Zonde sculpts both realistic and abstract works. His pieces on display at the Native Visions gallery demonstrate the diversity of his skill—wildlife etched in detail on vibrantly colored stone and smooth abstract figures that seem to have been frozen in movement.
Zonde said his inspiration often comes from the stone itself.
"Sometimes, it just comes when you pick the stone," Zonde said. "You have to choose the color first, and the hardness, then if you look at the shape of the stone and then you come out with something and say, 'I can put this in this stone'.”
Ross Parker is Native Visions Galleries founder. He said he is on a mission to not only provide a space for artists to sell and show their work, but to also expose consumers to art being made in different parts of the world.
"It speaks volumes to a lot of the artists that came out of Zimbabwe with no formal education who picked up a hammer and chisel or a paintbrush and started creating incredible works that became popular all over the world," Parker said. "And in a lot of cases, have been included in major museum collections all over the world."
All of Zonde's pieces are made from Zimbabwean stone and will be on display year round. Parker said plans are underway to bring an African wood sculptor to the gallery this February.
