A clear synthetic resin, or plastic, that comes in various thicknesses and finishes. The images in Cold Turkey: Stories of Truth and Reconciliation are printed on acetate film suspended on a wire inside a light box. The face of the light box is a transparent, rigid acrylic commonly known as plexiglass. A work such as Cold Turkey, which combines multiple materials, can be categorized as mixed media.

Paint consisting of pigments or dyes bound in an acrylic resin emulsion. While wet, acrylic paints can be thinned with water. Once they dry, they form tough, flexible films that are impervious to water.

An alloy composed primarily of copper and up to 10 percent tin, which increases the alloy's hardness. Bronze may be used in sheet form or cast into a desired shape. Africa has a long history of bronze casting, especially among the Edo peoples of Benin, Nigeria. The surface color, or patina, of bronze can vary from golden to dark brown or be altered chemically to produce a green coloration.

A black crayon made of charred wood or vine used as a drawing implement. Charcoals do not have a binding medium and therefore are powdery, or friable. An adhesive spray is sometimes applied to "fix" the drawing.

A small stick made for drawing. Crayons most often consist of pigments bound in a wax medium. Although crayons are usually used for drawing, Sokari Douglas Camp applied white crayon as a highlight to the steel surface of Woman with Palm Leaf Skirt.

A compressed form of carbon used for drawing or writing. Most often available as a pencil or stick, graphite's hardness is graded by its degree of compression.

A combination of media, including three-dimensional materials, used in the creation of two- or three-dimensional works of art. Mixed media is most often applied to contemporary works.

Oil sticks contain pigments mixed with a small amount of oil as a binding medium.

Pigments or dyes combined with a gum binding medium formed into sticks for drawing. Pastels are fragile and remain powdery on the drawing surface.

A finely powdered coloring matter. Natural pigments are usually derived from clays, plant materials and minerals. Synthetic pigments have been available since the 19th century. The colors used in Wafer's sculpture are derived from pigments bound in a wax medium. The artist obtained the glossy sheen by burnishing, or polishing, the waxy surface.

A painting medium in which powdered pigments are mixed with a proteinaceous binder, such as egg yolk, casein or animal glue. Commercial tempera paints, consisting of pigments bound in an aqueous medium, are often referred to as poster paints.

Technical term for a color photograph. Also referred to as dye coupler prints because of the chemical compounds, known as color couplers, that form colored dye images during the development process. Representative of the majority of the color prints made today, these prints are commonly referred to as "Type C" if made from a negative or "Type R" if made from a transparency.

Untitled by Mthethwa is face mounted with clear adhesive to acrylic plastic and backed with an aluminum sheet.

Giclée print is the "art gallery" term for inkjet prints. Inkjet printing describes the technique by which a computer printer deposits tiny jets of ink on a surface to print an image. This technique covers a wide range of printer types, ink compositions and papers, from simple throwaway prints to works of art on fine paper.

In Open Letter to God the artist digitally manipulated a number of photographs to print a single image.

Prints are multiple copies of a single image printed in ink on paper. A print run is usually numbered and referred to as a series or edition (e.g., 3/15 indicates the work is the third print in a series of 15). Prints can be made using wood blocks, linoleum blocks, metal plates, stones and screens. There are three types of printmaking--relief, intaglio and planographic--which describe how the plates are prepared to receive the ink. Each resulting print has its own characteristic derived from the type of printmaking process selected and whether the ink is deposited on a raised surface (relief), a depressed surface (intaglio) or a flat surface (planographic).

An intaglio process that produces gradations of tone by etching a plate to various depths with acid. The plate is dusted with a resin that is heated to melt the particles, affixing them to the plate, thereby protecting areas of the plate from the acid. The acid applied to the plate etches the exposed metal. Depending on the thickness of the resin and the duration of the acid bath, the image can range from very light gray to black.

An intaglio process in which the design or image is directly incised onto a metal plate with a steel needle.

An intaglio process in which a metal plate is first covered with a wax and resin ground (referred to as hardground or softground depending on its hardness) before the design is drawn with a needle. Once the design is completed, the plate is placed in an acid bath that etches the exposed metal where the ground has been removed. Etching the metal creates the grooves that subsequently hold the ink. After the plate is etched, the ground is removed and the plate is inked and run through a press to produce an etching.

Artists can combine hard- and softgrounds on a single print. Softgrounds allow the artist to create many textural qualities because the soft wax retains subtle impressions impossible to achieve with a hardground.

A relief process in which the design is carved or incised into a piece of linoleum with special cutting tools. Only the surface that remains after the design has been incised prints in the final stage.

Gavin Jantjes carved an image of a mask into the linoleum in Untitled. The purple ink adhered to the raised surface of the linoleum, creating an outline of the mask on a field of purple when printed.

A planographic process in which the design is drawn with a greasy crayon directly onto a stone or metal plate. The untouched surface of the stone or metal is treated with water-based material. Only the greasy area of the drawing accepts the ink, which is greasy also. A print is "pulled" on a special litho-press by laying paper over the surface and applying pressure to transfer the ink to the paper.

A planographic process in which the design is transferred onto a screen of fine mesh fabric with materials that can either resist or absorb ink. Paper is placed under the prepared screen, to which inks are applied. Using a flexible blade or squeegee, the artist pushes the ink through onto the paper. Screen printing was first used commercially on textiles and for products such as tee-shirts. Fine artists soon began to favor the technique because it was so versatile.

To create the outline of the three figures in Untitled, Gavin Jantjes applied to the screen a material that would resist the ink squeezed through the mesh.