One of South Africa’s leading modernist sculptors, Lucas Sithole was introduced to sculpture as a child by his ceramist grandmother who fuelled his imagination with stories of spirits and creatures of the night. Sithole favoured indigenous wood, which he often sourced from the forest, but also used stone and cast bronze, allowing shapes to emerge from the materials without imposing his own sign. His sculptures recall the indigenous South African tradition but at the same time engage with 20th century abstraction. Appreciated internationally, in 1968 he participated in the Biennale, receiving the prize for sculpture.
