Noria Mabasa

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Mabasa has been working as an artist since 1976. She was encouraged to begin woodcarving after the suggestion of Venda sculptor Nelson Makhuba in 1983. Her earliest figures were modelled after clay and wood matano figures used in domba initiation ceremonies. Mabasa initially found recognition on both the national and international art scenes in the 1980s with her ceramic figures painted with enamel paint. Her naturalistic figures are coil-built and fired in an open straw fire. Her current work combines the figurative and the functional; pots often take the shape of the female figure or feature faces.

She began working with clay in 1974 and two years later, in 1976, she became the first Tsonga woman to work in wood. She received local training.

Noria Mabasa completed one year of formal education at a school located three hours walking distance from her childhood home, but had to discontinue schooling because of household chores. In 1965 she began having recurring dreams of an old woman who showed her how to work in the clay medium, and prompted her to receive local training on the traditional craft. Her first clay figures were often small and were often given away to local children. She continues to create work inspired by the messages and visions of her dreams.

Noria Muelwa Mabasa (née Luvhimbi) (born 1938, Shigalo (Xigalo), Malamulele, South Africa) is a Venda artist, who works primarily in ceramic and wood sculpture.

Noria Mabasa was born Noria Muelelwa Luvhimbi on May 10, 1938 in Shigalo village, Limpopo. She was the third child born in her family with two older sisters. In 1955, she married Jim Mabasa who was from Ha-Mutsha village, Limpopo. She separated from Jim Mabasa in 1965 after she fell ill with a mysterious illness. He was impatient with her and ordered her to leave his home. She went back to Shigalo village.