It is exactly through this complex methodology that the artist manages to circumnavigate clichés and stereotypical representations: her characters are all true – to themselves and to their creator, as she is working to come to grips with the fundamental questions of her own time. “Art demands dialogue,” states Sibande, and she intends to share that dialogue with her audience when inquiring: “What shapes us, what do we allow to shape us and where are we in this process? Are we born of situations or do we shape our circumstances by our focus, our chosen myths and stories?”