X'AGA (X'aga Tcuixgao)

X'aga, a quiet shy San woman, was born the late 1950’s, early 1960’s in the Ghanzi district. During that time her people still lived as hunter-gatherers. She loved going out into the wide Kalahari veld with her mother and the other women to gather tubers, berries and other veld food. During those times nobody ever told her to attend school. She soon had to leave her carefree childhood to become a nanny on one of the big farms where she also helped with the laundry and housecleaning. Her brother Qwaa was an artist at the Kuru Art Project, and ever since she had seen what he was doing, she thought she could be an artist as well. She used to express her creativity with craftmaking and beadwork, which she enjoys up to this day.

She joined the Kuru Art Project in 1997 where her talent was soon recognised. She enjoys oil painting as well as lino printmaking. The sensitive qualities of her etchings made them outstanding.
Her favourite subjects are the things she knows so well from childhood. The veldfood, birds and small animals like tortoises and beetles still fascinate her. The veldfood became for her and the other women artists, the symbol of life. It symbolises times of abundance and prosperity for her people. She works in a spontaneous and direct way from memory. She has no specific colour preference but enjoys all colours and chooses them at random depending on her mood.
Her work ranges from large, bold colourful canvases to smaller lino prints and fine sensitive lines or hand-coloured etchings.

	Guinea fowls with eggs - reduction linocut - 2000
	Millepede and chicken - etching - 1998
	Monkey in tree and other animals - reduction linocut - no date