Athi-Patra Ruga
- Angeni Shahi and Benny Geller
- Apr 16
- 3 min read
Updated: 3 days ago
Versatile Queen: A Transhuman Proposal (2016)
Close Looking: Queer African Art and Belong
Visual description:
From a slightly tilted angle, we encounter a hand-woven wool tapestry depicting artist Athi-Patra Ruga in drag, dressed in garments that reference both traditional African clothing and contemporary fashion. The self-portrait is rich in color and tone, with a bold, almost pop-art sensibility.
The lighting suggests a studio portrait, carefully posed. Ruga wears a string of pearls, voluminous mint-colored hair, and layered patterned garments. His face is rendered in striking detail, with visible highlights in the eyes and sharply defined cheekbones, giving the tapestry a lifelike presence.
The composition is filled with reds, greens, and browns, alongside vivid neon accents in pink, orange, blue, and green. The background contains a mix of textures and patterns, including lines, circles, checks, and foliage-like forms. These elements create a dynamic contrast with the figure’s clothing and hair.
In the lower half, threads with a subtle sheen are woven into the garments, adding texture and movement. The tapestry is framed by a white border interlaced with gold thread, while shapes in the upper right extend beyond the border, spilling into the surrounding space.
The figure is posed with a sense of authority, almost like royalty sitting for an official portrait.
Context:
Ruga was born in 1984 in Umtata, Eastern Cape, as the youngest of 10 siblings. He accredits the stories he tells through his art to the trauma he experienced growing up as a young queer person in South Africa. As he grew up, he gained access to art classes and eventually began to combine fashion with art via the mode of performance after he was granted a scholarship to study fashion in Johannesburg. He began to sit out while donning his drag persona to work on hand-stitched tapestries: “As a craft it’s seen as very docile and feminine so I’d go out in my costume and start stitching. I put myself in spaces I didn’t belong to see how my audiences reacted” (Ruga).
“Athi-Patra Ruga’s “transhuman proposal” suggests a mode of being that, unbound by society’s expectations, celebrates the freedom to be, simply, human. For this artist, masculinity and femininity can exist powerfully in the same person. Here, he presents himself as the Versatile Queen Ivy, one of his favorite (and often repeated) avatars and one that, according to the artist, is inspired by Rihanna and the legend of Lady Godiva. He celebrates the creeping, crawling, cunning nature of ivy, which makes its way into cracks in walls and climbs against gravity” (National Museum of African Art).
Interpretation:
Ruga presents himself with the presence of royalty, or even something divine, suggesting that the blending of masculinity and femininity is not a contradiction but a powerful way of existing. The work invites us to consider identity as expansive rather than fixed.
The idea of the “transhuman” encourages viewers to think beyond rigid categories, particularly in relation to gender. It raises the question of what it might mean to exist freely, without being constrained by societal expectations.
The rich red tones that run through the tapestry may evoke ceremonial or cultural dress. In some traditions, red is associated with celebration, including bridal attire. This association opens another way of thinking about the work, where gender expression becomes part of a broader celebration of life, transformation, and union.
The figure’s presence is both personal and performative. By inhabiting this persona, Ruga blurs the line between self and character, suggesting that identity itself may be something that is created, inhabited, and continually reshaped.
Reflect and Explore
Questions for discussion /Prompts for closer looking
What does it mean to embody a character that is simultaneously inherently yourself as well as a completely separate persona from you?
This being a self portrait of the artist in their drag persona, do you think the tapestry medium has some deeper meaning correlated to the artist’s performance art?
Does the slanted nature of the piece spark any thoughts in your mind? What symbolism do you think may have shaped the choice to use this kind of framing/lighting?
What does this specific set of colors mean to you? Do you believe this color palette alludes to themes of class structure, identity, or something entirely different?
Throughout the whole portrait the only elements extending out of the frame are pieces of the headdress, why do you think this might be?
When viewing the piece, we notice that the colors and patterns are very bold as opposed to the model’s expression, which is serene and calm. What can be found through this glaring juxtaposition? Do you believe this contrast is an intentional statement, an artistic choice, or something else?
How does this piece challenge the traditional boundaries or notions of masculinity and femininity combined?
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