Creative Soul, Cape Town, South Africa

Connecting with Ms. Lizette Chirrime was a unique opportunity to understand an artist in action in South Africa. As an immigrant, Lizette also had to establish herself in another country, and gather support for her art. Through sheer determination Ms. Chirrime connected with a group of like-minded women to bring about this unique and powerful exhibit. The journey itself was in many ways more powerful than the outcome. The women gathered in stitching circles, shared stories, and under Ms. Chirrime’s creative direction produced and completed the installation in the nick of time.

Ms. Chirrime’s story is one of struggle, vulnerability and trust in people, but also of a sheer determination to “make it” in a country that doesn’t necessarily lift up its immigrants. As a woman, reading Lizette’s honest account of her journey from childhood in Mozambique to finding her voice, inspiration, love and making ends meet in South Africa, is eye-opening. Lizette’s struggles don’t stop, and since we met, she has suffered several health setbacks and underwent a hip replacement.

Lizette’s spirit and vision inspired others to create Khensa Khancu Wa Vavanuna: The Dress of Grateful Men project. A call went out to South African men to co-create a dress “by men for women”, a dress that celebrates the spirit of women. Over 21 men (most of whom have never participated in an organized artistic endeavor) responded and will hand-stitch a personal message to the women in their lives onto a piece of fabric, which Lizette will then join together into a dress. The exhibit was meant to be in Cape Town, but now will be virtually available to all.

A yearning for connection, the need for a creative outlet and a trust in Lizette’s vision seem to transcend the 2020 global pandemic. People are initially drawn to Lizette’s strength and vision and they stay for the masterful tale she seems to weave with her stunning creations.

1. What is your name and where is your hometown?

My name is Lizette Chirrime and my artist name is L27. I was born on Angoche Island in Nampula, Mozambique. Until now, I’m still trying to find my home.

2. What is your profession/career/title/self-label/designation?

People call me ‘artist’, but I’m not so comfortable categorizing myself that way. It feels too small because many artists work with only one kind of artistic medium, like paint on canvas. But I don’t just do fabric on canvas. I also make ropes with cotton, design jewelry and shoes, make clothing, create installations, and perform. Wherever I go I create something. I give life to dead stuff and love to everything around me. So I prefer to think of myself as a creative soul.

3. What does your average day look like?

Before the car accident last year, which drastically reduced my movement, my life was so busy. Every day was push, push, push. Because in addition to making art, I am also a single mother. I would go to the studio every day to make art, organize materials, or conceptualize and plan projects. And when I wasn’t at the studio, I was out buying material, attending meetings, going for interviews, fetching my son from school, taking him to football and other after-school activities. And then at home I was cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, and other household chores. I was madly busy. It was non-stop. When I’d finally reach sleep, I was so tired.

But now is different. My body reached its limit and is teaching me how to stop.

My ideal day would be to wake up and first take care of myself. Go to the studio, light a candle and incense, clean my environment, water my plants. My intuition would then tell me what to do next. I wouldn’t come with a pre-set plan of what I need to do for the day. I might work on canvas or on rope, or stitch something or conceptualize something, whatever moves me in the moment.

4. What did you study in school?

After finishing primary school, I attended a commercial secondary school, where I learned things like finance, sales, marketing and how to create a lucrative business.

5. What was the journey like to get where you are (in life and career-wise)? Write about some of the achievements that you are most proud of. What was the breakthrough moment for you (in your personal life and/or career?) that set you on the current path in life?

My wounds and pain from childhood have been what has carried me forward all my life, until now.

My work journey started when I had my daughter. I was still in school at the time and living with my father. So when she was born I had to stay home to look after her. But my conscience told me that I needed to find a job and support her on my own. My first job was in a restaurant as a bartender serving cocktails. One of the regular clients ran a South African-owned aluminum company and they were looking for someone to take their international visitors around town. I didn’t speak English, but they hired me because they liked the way I presented myself.

Because I was reliable and learned quickly, they gave me more responsibility- administrative work, answering the phone, and managing money.  It was a stable job for me, but they were paying me the bare minimum, just enough to pay rent and buy food. And there were many things about the company that deeply disturbed me. They treated their office staff well, which was mostly South African, but exploited the Mozambican people and manual laborers. I saw cleaners being sexually abused, prisoners from Thailand used as slaves, workers losing their legs because of dangerous work conditions. The things I saw made me very angry, and I became a revolutionary in the office. I started to voice my anger and say what I felt. The bosses liked my strong character and that I was so loyal, so they kept me on and listened to me, but only to laugh and make fun. They didn’t take what I was saying seriously.

After five years there, I decided to leave at the end of my contract. I simply couldn’t get myself to continue to work in that environment. I was also feeling that I had more to give than what I could do in an office. There was something very strong inside me that was calling out for my spirit to come, to see what I was really made of. I never knew what I was made of because I was always doing what other people wanted me to do. I never had time to discover who I was. I never had any time focused on me, other than basic things like bathing. I didn’t know what I wanted. All I knew was that for my spirit to come, I needed space.

It was a very complicated decision, but in the end I decided to stay at home. And that is when my creative spirit started to come out. I felt moved to decorate my home. I felt moved to do something. And so I started stitching. And that’s when people started calling me an artist. They would say, “Your house is very different. It’s not like a typical house.” My house became my creation. I didn’t just buy a couch. I created a couch. I noticed myself running away from things that made me lazy. I would wonder, “What can I have in my house that gives me energy and doesn’t make me lazy?” So I would switch off the TV and instead listen to music. When you watch TV you don’t have time because you’re giving your time to the TV. But listening to music is different. It inspires creativity.

Financially, it was very difficult. Art in Mozambique wasn’t selling like I thought it would. I eventually became homeless because I wasn’t able to sell enough to pay my rent. I managed to stay with friends and family and find part-time temporary jobs to get by. And through it all I continued making art- unique tapestries and hand-stitched clothes, very different from what you would find in the shops and people would commission me to make clothes for them. I was in a very dark place just trying to survive.

And then I met Noah. He was living on an island and invited me to come live there and make my art, away from the city and the struggle for housing. He traveled for long periods, so I spent four months mostly alone, with no electricity, just a generator that I used for emergencies. My only guests were shells and sea creatures, an abandoned dog left by South African tourists, and a very old man who lived far away.

On this island is where my artist spirit (L27) was born. I faced my fears and demons, sitting alone in the darkness of the nights. In the past, my head was always down to the ground. But here I looked up, connecting with the sun, the moon, the open skies, and the stars. I would go for long walks and runs and could feel that I was one with nature. The island cleansed me. I found god.

When I discovered that Noah was cheating on me, I broke up with him and returned to the city, where I found shelter in a friend’s back yard. I carried on with my art, but discovered the island had changed my skin. I felt fragile and unable to engage with people. I felt (and still do) the vibrations of stress, love, doubt, joy in everyone around me so strongly. There was so much pain, dishonesty, lies, betrayal, fighting, and depression in the city. I was so open to these energies, but didn’t know how to deal with them. It was killing me. So I stayed inside, and stitched and stitched, non-stop, until my hands hurt.

And then I met Jesus, a Spanish guy who showed me a path to freedom. Before him, I always attracted people into my life who brought me pain and caused me to make myself a victim. He was different. He elevated me. Every day he would tell me how special I am.

The way I met him, it felt like he was sent by God. I went to this big Women’s Day concert on April 7, 2004 with all female artists performing. I was there by myself and this man nearby caught my attention out of the big crowd. The way he was dancing like a feather, it didn’t seem human, and I went home thinking about him. A few days later, my friend called me downstairs saying that there was someone at the door looking for me. And when I went to see who it was, it was him! Which completely surprised me because I never talked to him at the concert. He was brought to me by a mutual friend who told him that he couldn’t live in Mozambique without meeting me. It felt like crazy déjà vu, witchcraft. I said, “YOU were my show during the concert, the way you were dancing and taking photos and being so free in your spirit”. So he came in, and it felt like the spirit of God came into the house. We all went crazy, in a positive way. We started to dance, jump up and down out of the blue, and throw money into the air. It was like some energy from God that overcame us.

Jesus asked if he could see my art, so I brought some, and he asked if he could come back the following day. When he returned he found me talking to a cockroach because I didn’t want to kill it. I was telling the cockroach that it should leave because we can’t live together. When he heard that he came inside and suddenly wanted to protect me. He said he wanted to help me sell my art and take me away from this place.

He would take me to bars, but I couldn’t take the negative energy- the vibrations were too painful. And so like a wild horse I’d jump up and leave almost as soon as we’d arrive. And he would leave and come walk with me. He was so full of love. He said, “I’ve noticed you are a very sensitive person and that you struggle to be around other human beings. But you are a human being and you live on this earth so you have to learn to live with them and not run away.” And he showed me how to engage with people without taking in their pain.

After a month of hanging out almost every day, he turned to me and said, “I would like to invite you to come to heaven, to come live with me in my home. But I need you to first meet my friend Anna to make sure you can cope with her energy.” I met her and she was just like him, so I moved in.

They gave me love and food. They listened to me, took me to beautiful places, and made me believe in myself. Other people thought I was crazy, the way I can feel vibrations and know how people are feeling before they tell me. But they thought I was magic. I felt like I had finally found a true family. It felt like home. I felt God had sent Jesus to save me. I was so wounded and had never had the chance to feel love. I grew up thinking pain was the only way. And he showed me that there was so much more than that.

All I did for the first few days was cry. I cried the tears I never cried during my painful life journey. And I cried tears of gratitude and joy for the experience I was now having. They didn’t ask me why I was crying. They would just bring me a blanket and tea. They let me cry. They knew I needed to cry.

Before I arrived Jesus and Anna were having problems with water. The water wasn’t working in the house for some reason and they didn’t know why. When I stepped into the house the water started running. It’s part of my ancestry. My father fed people with water and his father did as well. We are water people. I am the Queen of Water.

I didn’t pay rent, but I contributed in other ways, like helping to cook and clean. One day when I was cleaning Jesus’s space I noticed a small statue of a woman sitting with her hand on her cheek, looking sad and reflective. It touched me so deeply that I gave myself the permission to take the statue and put it in my sanctuary. The next day when I was cleaning the same area, I found another sculpture in its place. This one was of a lady pounding grain, representing work. Again something very strong touched me. And again, without asking permission, I took it and put it in my sanctuary. And the next day there was another statue in its place and I thought, “He is giving me signs, without telling me what to do.” So I took this one as well and put it in my sanctuary. It was of a woman with suitcases and a child on her back. And the last sculpture was of a spiritual man, which I interpreted as my soul mate. I didn’t break through yet, but I knew that these sculptures were his way of coaching me on the steps I needed to take in my life going forward.

It was as if I met the real Jesus in another body, in the body of this Spanish man. I had never experienced such a soul connection in my life. He was so much like me at the spiritual level. He prophesied that I was something special. People thought he was crazy that he just picked up a random girl.

I lived with them for three weeks. Then Jesus went back to Spain for a temporary visit, and I moved to Cape Town, following his sculpture prophesy.

When I arrived in Cape Town, all I did was walk the mountains. Every Sunday I would choose a different mountain hike. On one of these hikes, I was telling my hiking partner about Jesus. And when we got to the top of the mountain there was a white guy standing there, with the same movements and soul that attracted me to Jesus. And then this guy walks straight up to me and introduces himself and walks with me all the way back to my house. We chatted like we had known each other for ages. He had nothing to do with what Jesus was about. He was a lawyer and led a very different life. But that afternoon it was like Jesus was with me again. I never saw him after that. And I never saw Jesus again either. He died in a car accident in Spain not long after.

I do believe I’ve encountered Jesus. I don’t believe in churches or bibles. Jesus is an energy. He can use any body or animal or plant. I see God everywhere.

A couple of years later, my son was born. I called for a boy child because I thought it would help me heal from my father’s rejection and abuse and the abusive men I kept attracting into my life. I believed raising a son, seeing him grow from a baby into a man, would show me how to love and understand a man.

6. How is your life different from what you pictured at 20?

I didn’t picture my life at the age of 20. I had just had a baby and was happy to be a mother. Although I wasn’t happy with the situation I was in. I wasn’t working or married and was still dependent on my father.

7. Was there a time when life knocked you down or out and how did you get back up on your feet?

Life knocked me down many times. One of the biggest times was after I arrived in Cape Town to build my career as an artist. I thought I was on the right path and was doing what I wanted to do. But I was hanging out with people who were not a good influence on me. And they were not like me. I was a single mom and really needed to focus on my art, and they were all about partying, smoking, and drinking. I was afraid to say ‘no’ to their invitations and visits because I didn’t want to make them unhappy. At that time, I didn’t I didn’t know the difference between love and submissiveness. I didn’t know how to set boundaries because I had always been submissive since I was a young child. I grew up being beaten, and being told “you must do this, you must do that.” And so because I was not strong enough to resist their influence, I spiraled down and eventually had to go back to Mozambique.

What brought me back up on my feet was the support I had from my son’s father. We decided to give it another try as a couple, and so he brought me back to Cape Town where I started a fresh life with more balance and focus. Without friends to distract me, I was able to work a lot. Besides being a mother, I was able to concentrated fully on my creations and taking care of myself. From that point on, I’ve been selling a lot of art. I’ve showed and performed in Cape Town, London, and Berlin and at the AKAA Art Fair in France. And I’ve received a number of special design commissions, like a large-scale fountain mosaic for Spier Wine Farm in Stellenbosch, a signature beer glass for the Belgian Beer Company, and most recently a poster for Yo-Yo Ma’s concert in Cape Town.

Don’t follow people’s advice. Often when someone gives you advice, it’s advice they would give themselves. Since they are not in your shoes, they cannot truly know what’s best for you. Every time I tried to follow other people’s advice, I got lost and confused. Follow your own path, instinct and heart voice. And be supportive of other women.

9. Knowing what we know now in the current political climate, can women be "all that we can be" in today's world? What is the way forward, as you see it, for "feminist values"?

Mostly I feel I can do anything I want to in my life as a woman. But in society there are things that are restricted, where the system doesn’t allow us to go as far as men, where we are underpaid or undervalued. Women are more connected to the earth than men. We are more able to speak the earth language; whereas with men, the earth moves one way and they want to move the other way. And women are more connected to their feelings. Men have closed their hearts to women’s opinion. They think we don’t think right. But the world has been in the hands of men for centuries, and look where we are. I believe that women are stronger and more capable to rule this planet. That’s why we’ve been given the responsibility to bear children and be mothers. I want us to have the voice and power we deserve and to be taken seriously.

10. Where in the world do you feel “tallest” (i.e. where is your happy place)?

I am tallest and happiest in nature, because there I can feel all my vibrations. I feel more connected and happy when I can see the sun rise and set and the movement of the earth. In the city you don’t see that so much because there are too many distractions and buildings. In the city, you have to be very rich to have nature around you. But when you live in rural areas you can have it for free.

11. What extra-curricular activities/hobbies are you most proud of? Why?

I like to write about the things I feel, like what I feel about the environment we live in, and about the dreams that I have.

12. What do you want to be when you grow up? Future goals/challenges?

I would like to be able to sustain myself, to own a piece of land, with my own house, my own studio, and ideally my own gallery to display and sell my work. I want to stop paying rent and feeling chained to someone else to exist. I want to live in my dream house, where I have space to breath and where I can see the movements of the sun and moon. And I want to stop depending on galleries to sell my work. It is a very corrupt system because they take 50-60% of the price. They kill us. We are their slaves.

13. What fears are you still hoping to overcome?

I’ve broken a lot of my fears, but one fear still exists, which is my fear of failure. It comes from an experience I had of failing- of leaving my father’s place to come to South Africa, but then not succeeding and having to move back. My fear is to be dependent on other people. I want to live unchained.

14. Anything you'd do differently, if you had another go at life?

It took me a long time to be able to take the wheel of my life. I left it to other people for too long and saw myself as a victim. I wish I had taken control of the wheel earlier. But I’ve also learned that the struggle is my lesson.

15. What inspires you?

Happiness, joy, solidarity, the beautify of nature and human beings. I’m not talking about external beauty only. What counts for me is the heart language of human beings. Seeing them helping one another, loving one another, being supportive.

16. What are you hopeful about?

When George Floyd died and the way so many people rose up in the U.S. and around the world. I’ve never seen so many people do that. Before only Black people would respond, but now it seems like there is an awakening. Even though it feels it will still take a long time, it is a small flash of life in a dark tunnel. So many people are saying enough is enough. I don’t know what it is going to lead to, but it feels promising.

17. What are some ingredients to a good life?

Love is the main ingredient for me. There is nothing more. True love, unconditional love. Because when you love, everything else comes from that; you are able to be compassionate and have solidarity and other feelings.

18. What are (at least) three qualities you most love about yourself and why?

-Being sensitive. I’m a very, very sensitive person and this allows me to feel all emotions- love, sadness, pain, freedom. I’m able to experience all of these as vibrations. I’m so sensitive that I could be laughing now and if I see something sad I’ll be crying at the same time. My heart has that capacity.

-Being able to connect so deeply to music. Music speaks the universal language and takes me to the world.

-My visual creativity. My ability to speak a non-verbal language. It is my way of collaborating with the universe to bring beauty. I speak a visual language that allows me to express the beauty and the pain that I see and feel.

19. What advice would you give your 14-year-old self?

I would ask her to cry less, to be less sad. I would advise her to be stronger and more self-confident, to defend herself when she is beaten and abused. Don’t just listen and cry and feel sad that you don’t have any support from family or neighbors. Say “stop I don’t like that” and fight against it. Don’t keep everything you think inside. Now I am what I wish had been when I was young.

20. What are you reading now? (what books do you gift most and what are your favourite reads?)

Reading is not my biggest passion even though I feel I must give space for reading. There is one book that I read called the The Alchemist that I loved and that I will never forget. It made me feel like I am an alchemist. I left my home in Mozambique looking for a place I could be free and feel truly at home only to realize that what I was searching for was already there.

21. Who is a WOW Woman in your world who inspires you and why? Can you nominate three (or more) women you know who perfectly fit WOW WOMAN description? What would you tell them, if you had an opportunity, why you admire them?

For me a WOW woman is a woman who is strong and sensitive at the same time. She can be in a happy, loving relationship with a strong man and still hold her ground. Women like this seem to be rare; most of the strong, independent women I know are single. But there is one woman who comes to mind and that is Graça Machel. She was the First Lady of Mozambique as the wife of president Samora Machel and later after he died became the First Lady of South Africa, as the wife of Nelson Mandela. She is a powerful lady.

22. Where can others find you/your work (links to websites, blogs, etc.)?

• World Art Gallery: ww.worldart.co.za/lizette-chirrime_about

• Artsy: artsy.net/artist/lizette-chirrime

• Instagram: @L27chirrime

• Facebook: facebook.com/artL27

Press highlights:

• artafricamagazine

• afternoonexpress.co.za

• nandos.co.uk/explore/art/artists/lizette-chirrime

• visi.co.za/large-scale-mosaic-by-lizette-chirrime-at-spier