Born in Gutu, Zimbabwe in 1993, Kudzanai-Violet Hwami and her family relocated to South Africa amid political turmoil when she was nine years old, and then to the United Kingdom at seventeen. These experiences of geographical dislocation and displacement play an important role in the artist’s development. However, Hwami’s body of work, although personal, is not constricted to a place or location; the artist’s thematic choice of identity and sexuality have a universal appeal, and challenges viewers who share similar or opposing worldviews.

Hwami’s skill as an artist is expounded in the present lot, as the viewer is compelled to reckon with the conveyed imagery and messages. This powerful nude serves as a point of departure, boldly raising questions about the black body and its representation, as well as sexuality, gender and spirituality. The work appears politically charged and is counterbalanced with a delicate representation of a private moment.

The term ’SJW’ or Social Justice Warrior, brandished across Tampon Incision Study 3, first emerged in the early 1990s. It was used courteously to acknowledge those who strive to promote social justice. However, the term is now often used in a derogatory and derisive manner, an attempt to antagonize individuals advocating for fairness across all societal institutions.

In the present lot, Hwami appears to take ownership of the term, 'SJW'; the artist humorously applies a set the horns to the subject’s forehead, a visual plot device in the form of a banana that appears in many of her early works. These banana horns also serve as the second set of quotation marks, and appear to ridicule would-be antagonists who might seek to disrupt or sexualize the subject. The distinctive colours applied to the hard-edged SJW text are also significant. The letters SJ are permeated with crimson, which further reinforces the necessity of the subject’s action, while the W, imbued in black and in stark contrast to the preceding letters, symbolizes the subject’s/artist’s pride to be regarded as a warrior of social justice.

The present lot was painted in 2016, the year Hwami graduated from Wimbledon College of Arts with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. That same year, she was awarded the Clyde & Co. Award and the Young Achiever of the Year Award at the Zimbabwean International Women’s Awards, as well as being shortlisted for Bloomberg New Contemporaries. Since then, the artist has seen a meteoric rise and recognition in a relatively short artistic career: in 2019, she became the youngest person ever to represent their country at the Venice Biennale when she showed at the Zimbabwe pavilion, and mounted her first institutional solo exhibition at Gasworks in London, UK. She is currently completing an MFA at the Ruskin School of Art at Oxford University and has recently joined the roster of artists represented by Victoria Miro Gallery, London, alongside the likes of Wangechi Mutu, Chris Ofili and Njideka Akunyili Crosby.