“Shell” I stay, or ‘shell’ I go? Embroidery on rubber and found cloth. 2014

“A creature that hides and ‘withdraws into its shell’ is preparing a ‘way out’.  This is true in the entire scale of metaphors.  From the resurrection of a man in his grave, to the sudden outburst of one that has long been silent.  If we remain at the heart of the image under consideration, we have the impression that, by staying in the motionlessness of its shell, the creature is preparing temporal explosions, not the say whirlwinds, of being.  The most dynamic escapes take place in cases of repressed being…”

P111  from the book: The poetics of space by Gaston Bachelard (see here)

I read these words by Gaston Bachelard while working on this piece above for a group show which opens at the end of July, called :

The Industrial Karoo: Fear and loss.  (curated by Katie Barnard du Toit)

This work as well as another is on its way to Bloemfontein, but I will post more information about this exhibition closer to the time.

PS: The title is deliberately (mis)spelled like that.