Tinyiko Makwakwa (b. 1984, Johannesburg, RSA) received her Bachelors in Applied Social Science at the University of Brighton, UK. She is a self-taught textile and fibre artist raised in Tzaneen where the rural homelands formed an important part of her relationship to nature and her ongoing fascination with organic matter.

Makwakwa’s studio practice is an experimental process based approach that shows a deep respect for the interwoven narratives of materials and plants, the landscape and the making process. Through the use of various needlework techniques Tinyiko to repurposes found textiles, garments and pre-used fabrics to create the basis for her compositions. Thereafter the artist begins the ecological process of cultivating coloraturas (handmade dyes) through organic and inorganic pigment, these dyes then colour the fragmented forms that to populate her work.

Exhibitions and projects by Tinyiko include; “Mow down the lawn” Ithuba Gallery Johannesburg 2018, Africa Textile Talks, MUS (2022), Waste Not Want Not at Shade Gallery, Johannesburg (2022), New Signings at Kalashnikovv Gallery, Johannesburg (2022); solo exhibitions Cosmos & Community (2022) and The Blue Print (2023) at Kalashnikovv Gallery, Umbhaco Oditshiweyo (2025) at SMAC Gallery; FNB Art Joburg (2023-5) and Investec Cape Town Art Fair (2023-5).