LUNGELO Gumede from Durban creates lifelike wax sculptures of celebs, soccer players, Shembe church leaders and politicians.
In 2016, he drew the country’s attention when his sculpture of gospel star Sfiso Ncwane was put up next to the coffin at his funeral at Moses Mabhida Stadium.
Lungelo’s art has taken him to several countries, including Italy and Turkey.
“I believe my skills will earn me big rewards,” he said.
“Presenting Oprah Winfrey and John Legend with sculptures would be highlights for me.
“The sculpture of President Jacob Zuma I gave him is permanently displayed at the Durban Conference Centre.”
The ambitious artist, whose sister Ayanda was married to Ncwane, said art has taught him that nothing in life is impossible.
When the SunTeam recently visited Lungelo’s studio at the Bat Centre in Durban, wax sculptures of a number of famous leaders were on display.
These included statues of previous ANC presidents Thabo Mbeki and Nelson Mandela, as well as of current ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa.
Those of soccer players Teko Modise and Siphiwe Tshabalala were placed opposite the ANC leaders.
There also were statues of movie stars and traditional leaders.
Lungelo said it used to take him a month to create one sculpture, but these days it takes him only two weeks.
“I decided to study fine art at the Durban University of Technology but wasn’t good at theory. I learnt about sculpture doing my practicals in 2006 and started sculpting the next year.”
“I plan to open the Lungelo Wax Museum and create job opportunities,” he said.
