ukusondelana: an adult coloring book by Mercy Thokozane Minah [Digital Files]

ukusondelana is a coloring book for adults, featuring 28 black-and-white illustrations based on artwork created by Mercy Thokozane Minah. The illustrations depict Black, queer-and-trans figures in varying gestures of intimacy, which is the bedrock of Minah’s visual practice. The selection of the artworks which were converted into the illustrations featured in this book took place through a series of voting rounds the artist facilitated on their Instagram page and Patreon. Hundreds of people participated in casting votes for which works they wanted to see in the book which fostered an environment of gentle, joyful and collaborative play.

This is a labour of love. I made this coloring book because I needed to be soothed. I needed to create something that would give me permission to be playful and soft and facilitate play and softness for others. It has been such a miraculous joy to get to make art as a vocation. To do work that is joyous and fun and exciting. This process has taught me that I am allowed to be marginalized and also have ease. I hope that whatever interrupts your sense of worthiness – of ease, of joy, of softness, of play – will be paused as you engage with the pages of this book. I hope you will be reminded that our inner children never go away, they simply become adults who still hope that some tenderness shows up in their day.

Recommended use: Sketchbook app, Microsoft Paint, Microsoft Paint 3D (more apps will be added as I refine the files)