*Text drawn from a conversation with the artist

A totem is a universal symbol of humanity; its verticality a direct symbol of the human form and condition. I find inspiration in mythology, archeology, and the past. My works are not about contemporary issues, but universal spiritual ones. My grandmother used to be an avid museum-goer. She used to live in the Johannesburg Library, and while she was doing her research,

I would play in the Library’s Museum. I’m also an avid stone-age collector. There’s nothing more wonderful than picking up a hand-axe and making contact with many, many thousands of years. Those experiences have a subconscious effect on my vision and feel.

A lot of my work is also based on the male / female, yin-yang idea. I think life is about opposites. The one can’t exist without the other — the one defines the other — and our existence is male / female, so a lot of my work refers to the sun and moon, for example. For me, the shaman is
very important. I believe that the artist is a type of shaman, a connection between earth and the heavens, or the energies that are unseen. It’s about energy. I hope that the work I produced emanates and shines a particular energy, which takes the viewer back in time.

As a child I used to play at the Sterkfontein Caves, when it was totally open. There was nothing and nobody. That was my playground. I suppose that’s where I made contact with the old spirits. North, south, east, west... The sun and the moon — their effect on the image of the engraved rock art. They include the universe; universal energies are encapsulated there, and that’s what I hope to do with my own work.

This exhibition is held in partnership with Modern Art Projects South Africa (MAPSA). It includes fifty-three sculptures, made over the course of Moolman’s career, from various materials, particularly wood, steel, and bronze.