Pulp at 44 Stanley!

Songbird on the sea
 by Tebogo Boikanyo Matshana

The notion of crossing the ocean, physically, metaphorically and emotionally carries significance in the context of this work. Thematically, this body of work grapples with the concept of loneliness as an ocean to be traversed, through mental strength, presence of mind, and through the use of one’s own set of metaphorical wings. There are oftentimes depictions of two women, they are in fact one woman, the self mirroring the self. The protagonist is tethered to a bird, namely a blackpoll warbler. The blackpoll warbler is the smallest bird of its size to achieve the transatlantic migratory feat of roughly 20 000 km from North to South America over the short period of two to three days. With a wing span of roughly 25-27cm it is the only songbird of its kind able to achieve this physically taxing journey. In transcending an ocean of emotions, the blackpoll warbler in these visual poems, conquers the sea by transcending it.

Tebogo Boikanyo Matshana is a visual artist and writer based in Johannesburg, South Africa. She completed a Bachelor of Fine Art from Rhodes University in 2017 with distinction and an MA in Information Design through the University of Pretoria in 2024. She has founded the Birdhouse Interactive platform which combines visual art, narrative poetry and digital interactivity towards digital storytelling. Presently, she works as an Archivist at the Goodman Gallery in Johannesburg, South Africa. She has  previously self-published an anthology of illustrated poems titled a blackbird makes a sound (2020) and her poem For the Broken Boy appears in the Sol Plaatjie European Union Poetry Anthology Vol IX. The illustrated anthology you hold in your hand is the physical iteration of a digital interactive artist book and compilation of visual poems.