Real imagination is technical imagination. It is the ways you think to
bring an event to life again. It is the search for the technique to trap the object at a given
moment. Then the technique and the object become inseparable. The object is the technique, and
the technique is the object. Art lies in the continual struggle to come near to the sensory side
of the objects.
Creativity - a personal view
For me the creative process is the marrying of material and subject matter
in the quest to capture the core of form and feeling.
My artistic skills have been honed through experience, experimentation, and exploration. I have used a variety of materials and themes on this creative journey. Coupled with the creative interaction between mind, soul and spirit - is the cultural realities of my western classical education, African environment and Christian heritage. I therefore see myself as a Euro-african female Christian artist. Thematic Direction
The physical and spiritual connotations of flying, floating, reposing and
disentigrating is my present concern. To express this fisation I use clay, wood, resin, sand
and papermache.
Working process
My working process varies according to material of theme. I experiment with
the material - be it sand, wood, resin or glass. I spend a lot of time 'playing' and looking at
the material. I usually make sketches first, and then a marquette. This is especially necessary
when working on a big project.
when I did the "To the Bone" series in graphics and handmade paper - I collected bones, made sketches and took many black and white photographs of various bones. Choice of Subject Matter
The physical and spiritual has always featured very strongly in my work -
but seperately in individual works. In the seventies I created the Biblical 'Revelation' series
of 12 big fibreglass panels and 12 lino prints, and at the same time I did 'The Lovers' series
comprising 21 works.
Later these two elements melted into each other. 'Song of Solomon' (1993) is a good example of the union between the sensual and the spiritual. During the late seventies and eighties I lectured in Namibia. My relocation to this country - with its open spaces, sand, bones and mirages - seemed right at the time, preordained. I feel that it was here that I really found myself as an artist - the essence of desert lives on in my art. I did a series of 'Desert Images' in which I explored the shifting and dessicated shapes of sand and bone to express the transitory nature of matter. The resin and perspex works - incorporating sand and other objects - illustrates the spiritual, yet physical theme of 'dust to dust'. The 'To the Bone' Series that followed was based on the bones as metaphor and shape, stripped bare. For this process of introspection, of 'cutting to the bone' - I used photographs, prints of bones, papermache and casts of bones. I was very influenced by Henry Moore and Tapies during this period. Here I used the bone in its 'raw' state - illustrating as it were - the 'naked truth'. Eventually all that is left of our physical selves is the bone, suspended in sand and dust. eventually this too is eroded, and incorporated into the environment. During the mid-eighties I relocated to the Eastern Cape with its lush fecundity in contrast to the arid Namibian landscape. This caused me to eventually move away from 'skeletal introspection' to a series of mixed media works - The Changing of the Seasons. The influence of the sea and coastal vegetation became more apparent in my work, and the result was lighter works - watercolours on handmade paper, and a couple of wood sculptures. It was in the Eastern Cape where my interest in the primeval material clay was rekindled. My inspiration for the 'Mamas' - which I pitfired - was prehistoric fertility figurines. The 'She Who Rides Her Animal' Series of the late eighties was an offshoot of this direction. Although humoristic in expression - these works are essentially also an amalgamation of anger, angst and aggression. In the process - I learned a lot about myself, my material and the monsters within. After my return to johannesburg in the early 90's I created a number of large ceramic figures depicting various stages of bondage. Rodin's 'Gates of Hell' and William Blake's spiritual works were points of reference for me. In 1992 I entered a more serene period during which I was influenced by Henry Moore, physical landscapes and spiritual themes. I was more attuned to my natural and spiritual self - culminating in works such as 'Mountain' and 'Just below the Angels'. I now returned to my beloved 'bodyscapes'. I visualised bodies in mountains and valleys - and vice versa. Works such as 'Stargazer' and 'Life Force' was born. Recumbent figures now gave way to the more vigorous 'Sentinel' and 'Winged Warrior'. Towards the latter part of the 90's my work became more spiritual and autobiographical. 'Three faces of Eve' was followed by 'Fallen Angel', 'Guardian Angel & Victim' and finally 'Angel Tower'. To complete this Cycle I did life size drawings in the same vein my work of the last decade formed a theme nl. 'Seven levels of Illumination'.
From 2002 - still staying with Angels - I visualize my work going from
here to a lighter vein. i contemplate a series of flying angels in bright coloured fibreglass
with matching lino prints & drawings. The theme will most probably be: 'Angels in Africa'.
| |||
Website of South African Artists |
 |
||
