Xolani "Blank Face" Mahlaba
Xolani Mahlaba is a 21 year old South African film student, digital artist, photgrapher, stylist and creative director. His multidisciplinary practice explores surrealism through consciousness, mysticism, mythology, alchemy and symbolism.
Inspired by God, nature and the interconnectedness of all things, Xolani explores the subconscious and the relationship between inner and external realities. His influences include Carl Jung, Eckhart Tolle, Van Gogh, Zdzislaw Beksinksi, Goya, David Lynch and Andrei Tarkovsky, alongside fashion visionaries, Alexander McQueen and Junya Watanabe.
Egyptian mythology, experimental film and diverse musical genres further shape his creative world, informing a distinctive visual language centred on transformation, spirituality, consciousness and human experience.