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Recent Painting
My first love is oil painting. From large canvasses that completely absorb me, to tiny formats that challenge my sense of design, oil paint allows for a vast range of surfaces and marks, from the thinnest glaze to the plumpest brush mark. I am always aware of the pictorial space created by the composition as well as the implied depth of the brushwork, from the first layer of underpainting to the final marks.
Printmaking
These hand printed lithographs were made in collaboration with The Artists' Press, a world-class printmaking workshop in Mpumalanga, South Africa. The artist works with master printer, Mark Attwood, who takes care of the technical aspects while the artist focuses on the concept and image. It is challenging work that involves planning and delayed gratification as the image is built up with a series of separate plates.
Drawing
Black and white drawing can be meditative. Occasionally, I feel the need to remove colour from my work - it simplifies things and focuses my sense of design.
Lichen Paintings
I began painting lichens in 2017 and this has developed into an ongoing project. The paintings are not intended as botanical studies, but as translations into paint, with allowances for favouritism and obsession. There is something primal about this life form. A friend said they made her think of the beginnings of life; another said that perhaps it is the fractal patterns that we find absorbing. Whatever it is, my viewers also develop personal attachments to these strange organisms. Perhaps it is the naming process that helps. This is the fun part. The successful titles are usually tongue-in-cheek with a hint of something more.
Pastel
Returning to pastels, a medium that I last used thirty years ago, I have relished their immediacy and grappled with their fragility. These clunky sticks of pigment have an intrinsic innocence, perhaps because of the limitations of mark and colour palette. My heart was set on working with the constraints of the medium.
Archive - Painting
Older work - I graduated in 1990 and after some travel, moved to Mpumalanga, a province in north-eastern South Africa. Living in this subtropical region, with its rich biodiversity and varied topography, shifted my focus outwards.
Collection - A Sense of Place
Mapungubwe is a trans-frontier park, established precariously where bordering countries meet. It seems closer to the sun than most places; sun-baked rocks punctuate the landscape, scoured by water courses that are now mostly dry. The red rocks are left to fend for themselves as the elements cause onion-skin weathering and the rocks exfoliate in layers when they heat up and cool down. Sitting in the twilight on the warm rocks anchored me to something deep under the surface of the earth.
And then, home, in the lush escarpment of Mpumalanga. I know this place so intimately that I almost feel it instead of seeing it. - dangerous territory when it comes to observational painting, because what you think you know may overwhelm what you see. This was an interesting process because the location of my veranda stays constant; only the seasons and the time of day changes.
And then, home, in the lush escarpment of Mpumalanga. I know this place so intimately that I almost feel it instead of seeing it. - dangerous territory when it comes to observational painting, because what you think you know may overwhelm what you see. This was an interesting process because the location of my veranda stays constant; only the seasons and the time of day changes.
Collection - Welcome Stranger
"The small boat crossed the treacherous channel and left us on the tiny island off Sicily. It is an exquisite place; turquoise water that hurts the eyes and a shimmering fortress. I thought we were alone on the island. We walked on the baked path and the physical connection with Africa was evident. We found neatly arranged clothes, drying in the sun, left by refugees who had crossed from Africa to Europe.
Migration is pervasive. Out of necessity, it often happens quietly. In these works, the refugees leave silent traces of their journey through water, sand and mountains. I asked myself what I would take if I had to leave, and I saw that African women take fabric. I scattered my collection of African fabrics on the floor and painted them as if lost at sea. Every cloth is regional and has meaning. With it around her, a woman can seem regal and even happy. She might even feel these things. These flashes of colour push back despair; they conceal and express at the same time."
Welcome Stranger is the translation of a message written on a Kanga cloth.
Migration is pervasive. Out of necessity, it often happens quietly. In these works, the refugees leave silent traces of their journey through water, sand and mountains. I asked myself what I would take if I had to leave, and I saw that African women take fabric. I scattered my collection of African fabrics on the floor and painted them as if lost at sea. Every cloth is regional and has meaning. With it around her, a woman can seem regal and even happy. She might even feel these things. These flashes of colour push back despair; they conceal and express at the same time."
Welcome Stranger is the translation of a message written on a Kanga cloth.
Collection - Monoprinting
Monoprints and Monotypes are single, unique prints. I find this to be the printing process that is closest to painting; it is possible to work quickly, adding and subtracting ink from the surface, before it goes through the printing press and is transferred to the paper. There is a strong element of chance, which adds a lighter touch to the process.
Artwork
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