A painter of soft realities and bold desires, Buqaqawuli Nobakada weaves lace into canvas to reclaim Black womanhood, leisure, and the art of unapologetic abundance.
By Zuko Komisa
Born in 2000, South African mixed-media artist Buqaqawuli Nobakada creates worlds where Black women are not bound by toil or struggle, but are entitled to leisure, beauty, and domestic opulence. Working with acrylic on hand-prepared lace, her canvases weave rich textures directly into intimate interiors and majestic figures.
What began as a practical solution to material shortages during her studies at the University of the Witwatersrand during the pandemic has since evolved into an enduring visual signature and a profound lineage of care.
For Nobakada, lace is far more than an innovative medium; it is an inheritance. Growing up in the Eastern Cape, she was surrounded by doilies and lace curtains passed down through generations of women in her family.
While the fine art world often dismisses decoration as lacking intellectual weight, Nobakada views it as a vital form of nurture.
“Looking back, I recognise that these acts of decorating were also acts of care,” she reflects.
“The women in my family used beauty as a way of nurturing us, of making difficult circumstances feel softer, and perhaps even shielding us from some of the harsher realities of our environment.”
Acrylic paint on Venetian lace
125 x 91 cm
2026
That sense of care directly informs her exploration of rest a concept she views as an urgent counter-narrative for Black women. Having witnessed the endless physical labor of her mother and grandmother,
Nobakada set out to challenge the societal notion that leisure must be earned through decades of sacrifice.
“I sometimes think that alongside the histories, talents and dreams we inherit from the women before us, we also inherit their exhaustion,” she says.
“In my paintings, I wanted to reverse that idea. The women are young, and yet they are already entitled to leisure, beauty, pleasure and abundance. They don’t have to wait until they’re older… to prove that they deserve these things. They simply get to have them.”
This commitment to visualising abundance transformed her practice into an act of physical manifestation.
Early in her career, living in modest student housing, Nobakada painted women inhabiting elegant apartments filled with curated art and fine furniture. Inevitably, her reality began to mirror her brushstrokes.
As her gallery success allowed her to move into her own home, the environments in her paintings expanded into grand, palatial settings, with figures travelling the globe including scenes set in Capri long before she ever set foot in Italy.
“I often describe painting as a form of manifestation, and I mean that quite seriously,” she explains. “Painting allows me to do precisely that. I’m not simply imagining these environments; I’m spending hours constructing them, considering every detail, and placing myself and the women around me within them.”
156 x 140 cm
Acrylic paint on hand prepared canvas
2026
That dialogue between imagined futures and reality has culminated in her first solo exhibition in France, curated by Destinee Ross-Sutton in Paris. Titled Our Dreams Began to Chase Us Back, the showcase of six new paintings marks a major international milestone.
Far from catering to narrow Western expectations of African art, Nobakada’s work brings the sophisticated, multidimensional realities of South African life from Cape Town’s architectural havens to vibrant urban interiors to a global audience.
The response in Paris confirmed the universal resonance of her vision, connecting deeply with women across the diaspora who refuse to apologise for their desires.
“I hope the paintings remind women that wanting a beautiful life is not a moral failing, that abundance and depth can coexist, and that they don’t have to diminish themselves to be taken seriously,” Nobakada shares.
205 x 145.5 cm
Acrylic paint on hand prepared lace
2026
Ultimately, her work stands as a bold invitation to step into one’s own power:
“I hope people allow themselves to dream boldly, and perhaps even a little audaciously… Because sometimes, while we’re so busy trying to find our way towards the lives we’ve imagined, those very lives are already beginning to find their way towards us.”
Buqaqawuli Nobakada is a South African mixed-media artist based in Johannesburg. Through her signature acrylic on lace technique, she constructs radiant visual worlds that honor Black womanhood, generational softness, and the transformative power of self-articulated dreams.
To explore her work and follow her ongoing journey on the global art stage, connect with her on Instagram at @buqaqawuli_nobakada.
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