Eddie Masaya was born in 1960 in the mountainous Nyanga districtof Zimbabwe. Whilst at school he came across a magazine, The AfricanTimes, in which there was a story featuring the activities of a groupof sculptors , they were Claud Nyanhongo, Bernard Manyandure andMoses Masaya. It was through this article that he came to know thathis cousin, the acclaimed first generation sculptor Moses Masaya -was actually a sculptor. After reading the magazine and almost beingpossessed by the work he saw, he made his mind up that once he wasfinished school he would journey to Harare and ask his cousin toteach him how to sculpt.

 

In 1980 true to his desires Masaya left Nyanga and went to staywith his cousin in Harare, where he spent the next two years. In thisformative period he learnt a lot from Moses, how to use the toolscorrectly, how to polish a piece so it shines like a mirror but mostimportantly how to respect the stone and work with its flaws andtextures, a factor which is still evident in his work today. In 1981,together with Moses they held an exhibition at the John Boyne galleryin Harare, it was here Masaya first met Mr. Roy Guthrie who was avisitor to the show and the two have maintained contact ever since.1982 saw Eddie leave his cousins' studio and join Brighton Sango inGuruve, it was the start of a close friendship and workingrelationship that was to last until Sango's tragic death in 1995.Common goals had been established and Masaya was able to find his ownexpression, he says of that time " As a beginner I wanted to achieveperfection in the finish of my pieces, I wanted them to be smooth andshiny. There (in Guruve) I found my self moving away from thatapproach and beginning to explore rougher forms and contrastingtextures". Personal re - evaluations of the possibilities withinstone sculpture are still evident in both their work. These youngsculptors along with Tapfuma Gutsa and Norbert Shamuyarira, were thefirst to start to break away from the traditions set in place by thefirst generation. Masaya's work possess a strange, ghostly qualityand this, perhaps more than anything else, links him, more than theothers, to the first generation artists.

 

A break through exhibition was held in 1991 at the AllianceFrancais in Harare titled A New Generation and it featured the worksof Eddie Masaya, Tapfuma Gutsa, Brighton Sango and NorbertShamuyarira. They response was outstanding as people redefined theirconcepts of Zimbabwean stone sculpture. Masaya has gone from strengthto strength continually propelling himself to new heights. In 1995 hejoined the artist residence program at Chapungu Sculpture Park, dueto the outstanding excellence of his work he was awarded invitedartist status in February of this year. Masaya's spiritual approachto sculpting is confidently depicted in his recent work The Wise Man,here one can see the serenity and contentment within a man who hasacquired the gift of wisdom. The two faces, back to back, symbolic ofhis spiritual and physical attributes.

 

Masaya's work has been exhibited internationally since the mid -Eighties and he continues to present individual strength anddirection.