The Termites Have Gone Away

“The Termites Have Gone Away”

Senyati recounts that when he first collected the reclaimed pallet wood for this piece, it was alive with termites. To begin his work, he had to wait for the insects to move on. Eventually, nature intervened, lizards devoured the termites, leaving the wood cleared and ready for use.

What caught Senyati’s attention were the intricate grooves, tunnels, and textures the termites had left behind. These natural patterns became integral to the artwork itself. As he worked, Senyati realized that the story of the wood and the termites mirrored a deeper social truth: the constant power struggle between the privileged and the marginalized.

Just as the wealthy and powerful often displace the poor to make way for their ambitions, he too could not begin his creation until the termites, the “disempowered,” were gone. The work thus evolved into a meditation on power, displacement, and irony. In completing the piece, Senyati recognized his own position within that cycle: the artist becoming the powerful, depending on the absence of the less powerful to fulfill his creative vision.