Ledelle Moe

Multimedia sculptor | Cape Town, South Africa

Building collossal

Absence and presence are at the core of Ledelle's sculptures
Her assembled monoliths are built using common tools and materials
She is head of the sculpture department at the University of Stellenbosch

Ledelle Moe builds hollow monoliths using materials such as clay, cement, steel and chicken wire, and standard tools such as a handheld welding machine, a hammer and a spanner. The processes behind her creations are complex and ever evolving. "I begin with a small, unfired clay sketch," she explains. Alongside this 3D mock-up, she makes a mould and adds expanding foam to map the contours and dimensions of the shape. From bent steel and chicken wire she then builds a scaled-up armature of this shape, and drapes cement over the framework. "This acts as a sort of skin," says Ledelle. Texture and markmaking are applied to the cement skin, and the final form is assembled out of individual pieces. "This process of breaking down and building up allows me to create the illusion of a solid mass," she says.

Interview

©Yoav Dagan

©Yoav Dagan

Do you aim to convey a message through your work?: I try to draw attention to the dualities between permanence and impermanence, how things are both fixed and unfixed at the same time. My monolithic works convey a feeling of volume and weight, while in fact they are hollow, modular and light.
What life lessons have you learned thanks to your craft?: As a child, drawing functioned as a way to be in the world. With the work I make now, sculpture is both fragile and strong, brutish and delicate. My craft reminds me that everything is ‘both’ and ‘and’.
What impact has teaching had on your journey?: I would say that as a teacher, I was given the job because I have been doing it for longer than my students have, but in actual fact I am learning all the time, sometimes more than the students!
Would you consider your craft to be in danger?: I often hear the remark, ‘Surely there is an easier way to do that?’. With 3D printing and AI, the answer to that question is ‘Yes’. I believe all handmade crafts are under threat, but it is for that very reason that handmade crafts are also highly sought after.

Ledelle Moe is a master artisan: she began her career in 1994 and she started teaching in 1996