Right Now with Lady Skollie
Activist, visual artist, mother and bonafide badass, Lady Skollie also known as Laura Windgovel is one of South Africa’s most prominent creative minds. With a CV that boasts solo and group exhibitions locally and internationally, several awards, including the prestigious FNB Art Prize, and an acting role in the South African Netflix series Queen Sono, the 37-year-old is proof that the sky's the limit.
But when she is not being a multidisciplinary powerhouse, she’s at home with her baby boy. Ahead of Spotify Africa’s MOM event, where she is one of the artists highlighted, we sat down with her to catch up.
Lethabo Nxumalo: You designed the five rand coin so I have a money question. What’s the last irresponsible purchase that you made?
Lady Skollie: The only thing keeping me sane in this wild world is irresponsible purchases. But most recently my irresponsible purchases are three blankets from Aranda, an iPod Mini as a gift, and a bedoo (a beaded wig).
LN: What is your guilty pleasure at the moment?
LS: Watching Married at First Sight: Mzansi.
LN: Choose between the two: one month without your art supplies or one month without listening to any music. Why?
LS: No art supplies. I think more within my practice; by the time I actually paint I’ve been thinking about painting for a month. No music = death.
LN: What is a thing you have done or a breakthrough you’ve made this week that you're proud of?
LS: I started reading again and reorganised my bedroom.
LN: What is a talent you wish you had?
LS: Retaining languages.
LN: If you could steal anyone’s closet, whose would it be and why?
LS: Lezanne Viviers because then I wouldn’t have to pay her.
LN: You’re a mama to a beautiful one-year-old boy (and lowkey a mother to everyone). How do you think about raising a well-adjusted young man in a largely patriarchal world?
LS: I think I’m doing pretty well and solely because I waited way longer than most to have him (age 36). I think the trick is to live your life before making one. We’ve been having the most fun this year and he’s helped me to also watch my own shortcomings with awe and action.
LN: What has been a surprise about motherhood?
LS: It never ends.
LN: You’ve accomplished a lot in your career. What do you define as success at this point in your career?
LS: Being able to say no things I don’t want to do. Being able to live without thinking about money.
LN: What are you working on at this moment?
LS: Getting my son to stop breastfeeding, freeing myself up for experimentation and winning some international awards or residencies to give me a break from this complex place called South Africa.
Words by Lethabo Nxumalo for Letterhead
Images supplied by Everard Read