Cubist Chameleon – Sculpture, Mkumbula & Lassi

A chameleon becomes a contemporary art figure in this bold collaborative work from Malawi.

Georges Mkumbula treats the animal’s body as a cubist canvas, breaking it into planes of colour and light—blocks of lilac, teal, ochre and cream that shift as the viewer changes position. The painting transforms the chameleon’s changing skin into a dynamic, modernist composition.

The sculptural form is carved from a single piece of local Malawian hardwood by master carver George Lassi. His elongated, stylised chameleon stretched along a branch offers a pure, flowing line that fully supports the painter’s geometric intervention.

The result is a one-of-a-kind contemporary artwork at the crossroads of sculpture and painting, firmly rooted in African contemporary art while engaging with international modernist aesthetics.