Derick Mucheka

Derick Mucheka was born in 1967 in Chiweshe. In1986 he finished his ‘O’ Levels and went to Harare to live with his uncle Sylvester Mubayi. Mubayi is one of the most outstanding sculptors to have come out of Zimbabwe and is widely adored by artists and collectors alike.

After some time with his uncle, Mubayi that Derick take up art and his mentorship with the living legend began. In these early days, Mubayi used to finish off Derick’s pieces and encouraged the young artist because he could see the potential in him. Within a short, period Derick was invited to the Johne Boyne Gallery for an exhibition, this began the first of a number of important milestones. Derick joined Chapungu Gallery and was a resident artist between 1993 and 1994.

Mounting Ladders - In 1993 Derick received an award of merit with his brilliant piece entitled, ‘Woman Changing into a Tree’. This comes from a Shona superstition and belief that there are certain people who use traditional herbs to keep their wayward lovers faithful. In this theme, the woman administers the herbs incorrectly and she turns into the tree from which her ‘love potion’ was originally extracted. It serves as a didactic piece to demonstrate the consequences of misapplied medicines and herbs. Often this causes disharmony in the community and the moral fabric is reduced due to mistrust and superstition.

The work Derick was doing at Chapungu was largely experimental; he decided to move away from some more common themes and express his ideas with his now famous ‘scroll theme’. Derick is inspired by First Generation artists though he has had to find an artistic style very different from those he admires. His scroll theme is really centred around the fact that First Generation artists speak often of their folk lore and traditions but few if any of these have ever conveyed them to writing. He is commenting on the disadvantages of a wholly oral tradition although there are many aspects of this culture which he both admires and expresses in his art. He would like to see the new generation learning from the old but because many Shona traditions and customs are not written this is difficult to do. Some of the pieces he will be taking to Athens borrow from this theme. This is a young artist whose refreshing ideas bring a uniqueness to the works promoted by Mystery in Stone and the hope is that the partnership will open new opportunities for this artist so that he can reach his aspirations and show case his work internationally. Some of his significant pieces are discussed below.

Derrick began working at Chitungwiza in 1997 and was there until 1999. Between 1998 and 2002 he did a combined program assisting Mubayi with some of his Chapungu sculptures. In 2000 Derick went to Holland for a workshop called K3WK and was there for eight weeks. At these workshops he taught art to students from all over Scandinavia and Europe. In the next year he worked with the legendary Mubayi’s son, George Mubayi until 2001.

In February 2002 there was a workshop at Christen Bank for two weeks at the Donnie Bengwa Workshop which Derick was involved with. In 2003 Derick worked with three other artists in independent workshop at Hatfield in Harare. He was there until 2005 and is now once again in close collaboration with Mubayi. The themes Derick expresses are topical and affect most people at any one time, for instance the piece ‘Flame of knowledge’, this piece will be on exhibition in Athens, Texas and is discussed below.

Flame of Knowledge – Derick says that when God created the world He gave life and the commandment to preserve life on earth. His view is that the planet is being polluted and destroyed; it is literally ablaze and burning with it is the knowledge that God first gave to humanity. His theme connotes confusion in the world and he encourages people through his art to take a hold of the ‘key’ of knowledge in order to sustain the earth.

Some of Derick’s themes are especially different because he wants to develop his niche where no one can usurp his ever-increasing talent. He would like to challenge art collectors to only accept the genuine art from sculptors and not copycats, he sees this as a type of cannibalisation of the artist’s labour of love. He brings a dynamic and interesting collection to the Mystery in Stone collection because of his determination and his mainstay is to break away from his contemporaries.
Derick enjoys such topical themes as nature and within that theme the idea of selling staple foods. He is inclined towards themes which speak of the environment and sustainable development including the profit that can be used from the earth if it is respected. Derick has been exposed to European art and has developed his themes along some Western norms but continues to narrate a wholly Zimbabwean story.

He enjoys working with springstone, opal, serpentine and fruit serpentine. The latter is a colourful version of serpentine and is found in an area called Kwekwe. Enduring stones challenging him and this enriches his work immensely. He has also worked with animal themes, which express the inner mind of a person. He also explores in art what binds animals and people together. His expressions tend to be experimental because he is a creator who enjoys teaching through art and his aim is to make his learning medium as attractive and eclectic as he can make it. He has moulded his ideas with a free spirit.