AN INTERVIEW WITH KHUMO RAMAILA ABOUT HIS FIRST SOLO EXHIBITION TITLED “ALIENATED”

28 March 2026

1. Your exhibition Alienated explores the idea of belonging within rupture and displacement. What initially sparked this body of work?

I think the work is subconsciously rooted in the tension between belonging and not belonging, the idea of feeling “homeless” in a deeper sense. It’s a concept I grappled with a lot as a teenager, and it often felt like an existential crisis. COVID gave me the push to really confront and develop this idea, especially around themes of rupture and displacement.

At first, I focused on the people around me who brought comfort and stability. In a chaotic world, they almost felt unreal, like something otherworldly, almost like Aliens sent to Earth to bring light into people’s lives. But as I’ve grown, that perspective has shifted inward and looked at the space that surrounds us. Instead of seeing the “alien” as something outside, I’ve started to recognize it within myself, feeling out of place in familiar spaces.

2. Your practice brings together digital photography, drawing, and stitching. What draws you to this process of layering and combining mediums?

I’ve always found that one of my biggest strengths is in combining techniques, and depending on the concept, I always try to choose a medium that best translates the idea efficiently. When it comes to Alienated, I wanted to stay close to the original concept, so I used the photographic and drawn elements to represent reality. While the overlaying and disruption of images was meant to represent the imagined reality, stitching acted as a bonding agent to bring these two spaces together.

The layering and shifting of images disrupt that reality, creating a space where the real and imagined overlap, similar to the idea of The Matrix. Throughout the production, I was initially concerned about how messy the overlays would look, but I realized that a clean finish wouldn’t make sense. COVID itself was messy and fragmented, so the patchiness in the work reflects that. It’s not a flaw, it’s part of the experience

3. How does living and working in Johannesburg influence your themes and visual language?

I see myself as a product of my environment, and Johannesburg has played a big role in shaping both my themes and visual language. The nature of the city comes through in how I think and make work.

It’s pushed me to approach printmaking in a more experimental and alternative manner. Trying to bridge urban ideas and ways of thinking into a traditionally structured medium. I’m not trying to be the best printmaker in a conventional sense, but rather to use printmaking as a tool to translate contemporary, urban experiences.

Living in Johannesburg exposes me to alternative ways of seeing, and that “alternativeness” directly influences both my concepts and how I execute them.

4. You were recently recognised at the Fak’ugesi Awards 2025. What did that moment mean for you and your practice?

That moment validated my practice, so it’s one of those moments that you wouldn’t trade for anything. I still get shocked at the fact that I am legit an artist, and moments like that just make it feel more real. It feels like I’m not trying to be anymore but actually becoming.

5. What are you currently exploring or questioning in your work as your practice continues to evolve?

I tend to work across an array of themes, but more recently I’ve been testing a kind of working theory within my practice. I’ve come to believe that in order to maintain an artistic trajectory requires holding onto roughly three to five core concepts. ideas you return to, refine, and expand over time. It creates a balance, allowing for enough focus to build depth and continuity, but enough variation to avoid creative stagnation or obsession with a single concept.

Right now, mine are:

· Confronting Shadows: This is a deeply introspective body of work centered on externalizing internal struggles and essentially translating personal “demons” into tangible form. It functions almost like a form of internal exorcism, where the act of making becomes a process of confrontation and release. With this series, I lean into cyanotype and embossing, using the medium to mirror a psychological state.

· An African Renaissance: While the title may seem self-explanatory, this series operates more critically as a response against the frameworks of traditional art education, particularly in how African identity and narratives are mediated. Linocut becomes the primary medium here, not just for its historical associations, but for its immediacy and boldness, which align with the nature of the concept.

· Angels: This body of work shifts toward storytelling, constructing and embedding fictional narratives within real-world contexts. The intention is to blur the boundary between fact and fabrication to “bend” reality with imagined histories by creating visual evidence and situating it within familiar spaces. Lithography and silkscreen are key here, allowing for layering, repetition, and visual credibility that supports the illusion.

Together, these themes allow me to explore different ideas while still building a consistent and evolving practice