Artist Database

Sibiya's artistic sensibility was formed early, shaped by the rituals and objects employed by his father who was a Sangoma. He grew up in Sophiatown, but his family was later displaced to Soweto following the politically motivated destruction of the neighbourhood in the 1950s.

While at school in Hammanskraal, he began experimenting with woodcarving. Before completing his education at St. Peter's Seminary, he introduced himself as well as some of his artwork to Cecil Skotnes, then the head of the Polly Street Art Centre in Johannesburg. Skotnes accepted him as a private pupil. Under Skotnes' mentorship, Sibiya developed a distinctive visual language.

Sibiya took folklore and traditional imagery to a new level of sophistication without sacrificing their raw, ritualistic character. His woodcarvings evolved over time into distinctive engravings, coloured by rubbing powdered pigments into the surface. His work remains among the most sought-after in South African art and is held in numerous public and private collections.