Capetonian artist Tony Gum, 20, is making new African icons with her lavish, satirical self-portraits and taking the world by storm, writes Pearl Boshomane.Tony Gum's "Milked in Africa" series features three self-portraits by the Cape Town artist, whose body and face are painted in shades of green: Spilt milk shows her topless, chest covered, one breast spilling over with milk; Half full, half empty shows Gum with a black Xhosa-style headwrap, carrying a large jar of milk on her head; and Milk someone for something is reminiscent of a Madonna and child - but with bright red lipstick.The series is inspired by Africa, "more than the female figure, more than the black figure".story_article_left1"Africa is represented as a female figure, and she's depicted as this woman of stature who is [an] empress," says Gum (pronounced "goom") on a Skype call from New York, a day before she'll partake in the PULSE Contemporary Art Fair."Africa is a power figure. Milked is represented as Africa's resources and the riches and her breasts are the resource and the medium of this milk. I use a lot of milk metaphors just to deal with such important social issues. I'm not desensitising them, but I'm just putting them out there in a light way."I'm talking about colonisation, corruption and exploitation, and how Africa has had to deal with those hardships and is now dealing with the implications of those hardships - that, mind you, might still be happening to this day. But as much as Africa is being milked for everything that she has, she remains powerful. Just like how a baby can suckle at a mother's breasts. The more the hardships suckle, the more she produces. It's about looking at the brighter side."A film student, Gum gained attention when her Black Coca-Cola photographs began making the rounds online about a year ago. The striking images showed Gum rocking red lipstick, a crate of empty Coca-Cola bottles on her head, and a two-litre Coke bottle on her back - in the same way many African mothers carry their children. In another (on our cover), Gum wears traditional Xhosa clothing, with a Coke bottle in her hand.Her newer works include the uTwiggy series, in which she reimagines images of the iconic '60s British model Twiggy - but with an afro, or rocking gorgeous Xhosa beads. Reimagining Western pop culture icons and brands (she has also posed as Frida Kahlo), from the position of a black woman, is the impulse behind those works."It's something I had a problem with growing up, and I'm not that old, but I always saw that in power figures and iconic figures there was a lack of not only black women, but African women. I could not relate - I couldn't find that African woman who is the epitome [of power] - there was just a handful of people like that. It was nice to get inspired by these Westernised iconic figures, but I wanted to interpret them and adapt them through my understanding, which is the African narrative, the Xhosa narrative," she says."While trying to create content of that Xhosa woman I don't really find on the internet, I was also learning about my own culture. I remember how my brother said all the colours in Xhosa beads mean something, so I couldn't just throw on anything. There were a lot of things I had to understand, and a lot of things I am still learning to this day."Did she ever imagine her work would receive the attention it has? "No, not at all. In the beginning I was content to teach myself and to create that substance of work that is missing. With Black Coca-Cola, which I do believe was the beginning of it all, my intention wasn't really to wow people but to send a message out there."After she was anointed "the coolest girl in Cape Town" by none other than Vogue magazine, have people been kicking down Gum's door, dying to work with her? "The art world is quite small, and everyone should work with everyone. That has been happening prior to Vogue. And I've been asking to collaborate with people, so there's always been that communication. Now it's more intense. I do hope to collaborate in the true sense with other artists, where we start from scratch, where it's not someone who wants to just take a picture of me."What's next for Tony Gum? She hopes to partake in more art fairs this year, although the important thing is to "catch up on school, of course"...