Bly / Stay (2018)
The interiors above are inspired by the church centre in Cloetesville, Stellenbosch, where my parents worked in ministry since the 1980’s. They retired in 2017.
As I reflect on these vivid spaces from my childhood, the act of painting becomes an intensified expression of the physical world. The lines between the spiritual and physical, between the present and the past, start to unravel. Interiors have the potential of being both still lives and portraits, relying on objects (or on the distance between objects) to accentuate a person, an encounter or a narrative moment. Rooms, passages, halls and the objects inside of them (like chairs and tables), speak to the viewer because of their ordinariness and recognizability. Yet these familiar interior objects also have the ability to alienate the viewer, underlining their otherness in discomforting ways.
The tension in these images - between hospitality and hostility – reflects the viewer’s own memories, fears or experiences, acting as catharsis and compelling us towards self-reflection.
About the title: Stay
The title speaks about leaving - 2017 was the year my father retired. Our family felt a huge sense of loss and relief at leaving a space we lived and moved in for 30 years. Painting helped me reflect on the tremendous pull of physical spaces on our memories and personhood.
In some of the works the interiors are empty and long for companionship (it urges the viewer to “stay” as a petition or a lament) yet in others the interior summons the viewer to a cheerful space (“stay with me” extended as an invitation).
As I reflect on these vivid spaces from my childhood, the act of painting becomes an intensified expression of the physical world. The lines between the spiritual and physical, between the present and the past, start to unravel. Interiors have the potential of being both still lives and portraits, relying on objects (or on the distance between objects) to accentuate a person, an encounter or a narrative moment. Rooms, passages, halls and the objects inside of them (like chairs and tables), speak to the viewer because of their ordinariness and recognizability. Yet these familiar interior objects also have the ability to alienate the viewer, underlining their otherness in discomforting ways.
The tension in these images - between hospitality and hostility – reflects the viewer’s own memories, fears or experiences, acting as catharsis and compelling us towards self-reflection.
About the title: Stay
The title speaks about leaving - 2017 was the year my father retired. Our family felt a huge sense of loss and relief at leaving a space we lived and moved in for 30 years. Painting helped me reflect on the tremendous pull of physical spaces on our memories and personhood.
In some of the works the interiors are empty and long for companionship (it urges the viewer to “stay” as a petition or a lament) yet in others the interior summons the viewer to a cheerful space (“stay with me” extended as an invitation).
Portrait (2018)
"Selfportret soos op die aand van die Aanval"
Oil on Board
70 x 60cm
Top 40 Sanlam Portrait Awards
Oil on Board
70 x 60cm
Top 40 Sanlam Portrait Awards
This painting reflects a traumatic experience from 2016. Pressing socio-political realities and the injustices of the past make crime and criminality part of everyday life in South Africa. In 2016 a syndicate in our area had broken into our rental farm cottage and held us captive (myself, my husband and another friend) while rummaging the house for goods to steal. They left an hour later without leaving traces and police detectives closed the case on account of finding no leads. The strangest memory of the experience was waking up in a room full of light. For the duration of the experience (between 2am and 3am at night) the burglars kept the lights on, which made it strangely surreal.
The portrait shows me at the moment of waking up and trying to make sense of the light in the room, feeling the bedsheets being jerked from the bed. The process of creating this work was painful but healing.
The portrait shows me at the moment of waking up and trying to make sense of the light in the room, feeling the bedsheets being jerked from the bed. The process of creating this work was painful but healing.
© All images copyright of the artist
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