‘Gondwana Digitata’, Jon Wreal
Zimbabwean sculptor, Jon Wreal, recreates the Gondwana Digitata, or African baobab to not only raise awareness of great importance of the largest succulent in existence but highlight the sense of community the tree encapsulates.
Gondwana Digitata has for centuries existed as a refuge or home for creatures great and small. The tree is a loose metaphor for community challenges and what we strive to do to overcome. Known to grow in very arid conditions, it is a symbol of life and positivity in an environment where little can thrive.
About Jon Wreal
Jon Wreal was born in Gweru, Zimbabwe, and refers to himself as an urban nomad even though his permanent address is in Harare. In 2009 he commenced a BFA(Visual Art-Painting, Sculpture and Art History) at Sir Wilfred Grenfell College, Newfoundland, Canada. Wreal received many academic awards: International Academic Excellence, Rotary Fourway Scholarship, and recognition as an emerging artist, to name but a few. Wreal however returned home to Zimbabwe in 2013 without having completed his degree due to economic hardships. Undeterred he continued in his artistic endeavors, joining the Afrika Burn community, based in South Africa.
Afrika Burn is a regional event of Burning Man, centered on the construction of temporary artworks and a temporary town in a semi-desert environment through a radically inclusive creative expression process. He exhibited his first large-scale sculpture – The Fine Balance – in 2018.
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