Vibrant Auto Gymnastics artwork showcasing a colorful tapestry of patterns and textures, representing South African art.
Auto Gymnastics artwork showcasing vibrant colors in South African art collage, inspired by Soweto's rich history.
Auto Gymnastics artwork showcasing vibrant patterns inspired by South African art, colorful collage on canvas.
Colorful collage artwork titled Auto Gymnastics, inspired by Soweto's rich culture and local scenes.
Auto Gymnastics
Vibrant Auto Gymnastics artwork showcasing a colorful tapestry of patterns and textures, representing South African art.
Auto Gymnastics artwork showcasing vibrant colors in South African art collage, inspired by Soweto's rich history.
Auto Gymnastics artwork showcasing vibrant patterns inspired by South African art, colorful collage on canvas.
Colorful collage artwork titled Auto Gymnastics, inspired by Soweto's rich culture and local scenes.
Auto Gymnastics
Tsholo Motong

Auto Gymnastics

Save $-2,000.00
/
My work is only inspired by local scenes from Soweto, South Africa, which has a rich history of migrant labour. I use a lot of colour because I believe colour is like a spice of life.

 

Read more about Tsholo
Technique Dimensions
Shweshwe fabric collage on canvas 30" H, 42" W
Framing From
Gallery Wrap Soweto, South Africa

Wakker opstaan sula nge vaslap,
trap en los kwabatlela alles & tussen
stomp & vyf German Shepard from Bavaria
535 sandla semfene, drifting on quadratic double barrel
last number BBS chrome spokes of metallics
burning rubber with smoke & pipes call it auto gymnastics
 

By Splash Motong
  • Domestic: FREE shipping
  • International: calculated at checkout
  • Ships from: San Francisco, CA
  • Ships within: 1-3 days if in stock, 10-14 days if made to order
  • Delivery time: 5-7 days domestic, 10-14 days international
  • Duties & import taxes: paid by the customer on delivery
  • Returns: 30 days on originals and original prints; made-to-order prints are final

Learn more

  • Authenticity Guarantee: We receive all artwork directly from artists. We vet each one personally, know them well, and are in contact with them. We stand behind every artwork.
  • Privacy Guarantee: We respect your privacy and will never share your personal information with a third party. We never share your purchase history with anyone and respect your marketing preferences. Learn more...
  • Money Back Guarantee: Our 30-day money-back guarantee covers original artwork, including original prints such as woodblock, silkscreen, etching and lithograph — even in numbered editions. Made-to-order items (Fine Art Prints, Giclée, Canvas Prints and Metal Prints) are produced on demand and are final sale. Learn more...

Tsholo "Splash" Motong trained as a fashion designer and worked for several Johannesburg labels. When cheap imports saturated the industry he moved into art, which asked for the same hands — cutting, patterning, assembling — and he has been building faces out of cloth ever since.

He collects fabric from across the continent: Shweshwe from Da Gama Textiles in South Africa, Ankara from Nkosikazi Fabrics, Vlisco and GTP wax prints from West Africa, Kalanga from Zimbabwe, Malian bògòlanfini. Each length is cut into hundreds of small irregular pieces and laid onto canvas like a mosaic, then layered with acrylic and paper. Patterns that were never meant to sit together, coaxed into a single face.

He learned it from women. His grandmother knitted blankets and jerseys and crocheted; his mother was a seamstress, sewing curtains and bedding with hand embroidery. "She was my pillar," he says of his grandmother. "She didn't scold me when I told her I wanted to venture into this career."

He writes one of these poems for every work — English, isiZulu, Afrikaans, tsotsitaal, published under his own name.

His work was the lead photograph of National Geographic Traveller's March 2024 feature on Johannesburg's artists, and a 2023 collage is on the cover of a Peter Lang study of African women's writing. Each piece is selected personally from his Soweto studio.

Read Motong's full story — Ubuntu, Soweto, and the fabrics he works in.

Interview with Tsholo

We sat down with Tsholo in October 2023 before his second solo exhibit at Art House SF.

Read the interview

"Faces of Soweto"

Tsholo returns to Art House SF with his second solo exhibit in August 2023. Titled "Faces of Soweto" in this exhibit, Tsholo Motong presents the people around him, people of Soweto.

He tells their stories with insightful clarity and compassion.

See the exhibit

"Proud and Beautiful"

Tsholo's first solo exhibit at Art House SF in August 2022. For the first time we're introduced to the amazing world of Shweshwe fabric and his fabric collages.

see the exhibit

Frequently Asked Questions:

Is this artwork original? How is it framed?

Check the "Technique" field above:

Oil, Acrylic, Watercolor, or Fabric — a unique, one-of-a-kind original, delivered to us directly by the artist and framed in California.

Handmade Woodblock Print, Silkscreen, Etching, or Lithograph — an original print. The artist carved or cut the matrix and pulled each impression by hand; there is no painting it was copied from. Each is signed and numbered by the artist within a limited edition.

Fine Art Print, Giclée, Canvas Print, or Metal Print — a high-quality, museum-grade reproduction of an original work fabricated here in San Francisco.

Check the "Framing" field above for this piece.

The design is our own — museum-grade, archival, and always real wood, never veneer or composite.

The species suits the work — cherry, ash, maple, oak, poplar, or hinoki cypress. Chosen per artist, not to a house style.

Where it's made — Kuriyagawa's and Namiki's frames are made in Japan. Everything else is framed in the United States, from hardwood milled by a third-generation family workshop that supplies exhibition frames to museums.

Every piece arrives ready to hang, with hardware and a level included.
Can you help me visualize the artwork? How do I buy an artwork I like?

Send us a photo of your wall and we'll place the artwork into it, to scale, so you can see exactly how it looks in your room. No charge, no obligation.

Want to see more? We'll send a video of the piece from every angle. Email us — or see examples on our YouTube channel.

Add to Cart and check out securely on the site. We take credit cards, PayPal, Apple Pay, and Shop Pay.

Or just email us. We'll answer any questions and send an invoice — no account needed.
Can you help me install the artwork? What's your return policy?

In the SF Bay Area — yes, in person. We'll deliver and hang it for you, free of charge. Just ask.

Anywhere else — every package includes what you need: hanging hardware, a level, and a microfiber cloth. Everything arrives ready to hang.

30 days, no questions asked — on original paintings and on original prints. Return it in its original condition and we'll issue a full refund, less return shipping.

The one exception — fine art prints and giclées are made to order for you, so those sales are final.
Do you ship internationally? How long will my order take?

Yes, worldwide. We've shipped to Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Italy, Germany and the UK, all delivered without incident.

Typical cost is $60–$140 via UPS, with delivery in about two weeks. Rates are calculated at checkout. Any duties or import taxes are paid by the customer on delivery. Not sure? Email us for an estimate before you order.

In stock — ships in 1–3 business days. Then 2–3 days to arrive on the West Coast, 5–7 days elsewhere in the US.

Made to order — about two weeks. Fine art prints and giclées are printed for you, so allow 10–14 days before shipping.

Everything goes UPS, tracked. You'll get a tracking number when it leaves us.

You may also like

Back to Tsholo Motong