Phillemon Hlungwani spent his youth in a rural part of the northernmost province of South Africa and remains greatly influenced by his formative memories, often evidenced in his landscapes. Frequently using charcoal and burnt wood from his hometown, Hlungwani repurposes the material’s physicality, granting the residue a new lease of life. A highly skilled draughtsman, Hlungwani’s charcoal works give form to his ideas on culture, the everyday, the self, and familial history.

Hlungwani completed his studies at the Johannesburg Art Foundation, the Artist Proof Studio and Wits School of Arts, University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. He is currently the co-ordinator of professional art at the Artist Proof Studio. Commissions include Johannesburg Development Agencies; South African Reserve Bank; and The Standard Bank Art Gallery. Recent group exhibitions have taken place at UJ Arts & Culture – University of Johannesburg in Johannesburg and the Irma Stern Museum in Cape Town, South Africa.