meet the artist part 7 – working with rubber

Art portfolio- my work, Studio news/blog

Artist photographed by KleinJan Groenewald 2020

Rubber is a very tactile substance and I love the skin-like quality of it, which can be highly fetishized.

It also distances my work from the perceived softness or delicacy of ‘women’s work’ to become the opposite – hard labor.

Working with rubber is like fusing two seemingly irreconcilable material forms together along with their associated symbolic values.

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Thank you for reading my ‘meet the artist’ posts during this month, reaching the half way mark today. I wish you a lovely Valentines day. xxx

Domestic Craft…a story….

Art portfolio- my work, Studio news

In Some circles the word ‘craft’ often invoke a

“Hare-raising” 300 x 200 x 80 mm Cotton thread and rubber 2019

“hare-raising” feeling.

So usually in order for a work to be seen as “Art” it has to “Earn it’s stripes”.

Earn your stripes, 440 x 250 x 100mm Cotton thread and rubber

Seven years ago I stopped “Horsing around”…

“Horsing around” 350 x 180 x 80mm Cotton thread and rubber 2019

with different mediums/art materials and focused on embroidery and rubber.

I am not a….

“Fly by night” 280 x 180 x 80mm Cotton thread and rubber 2019

“Fly by night” artist, and the process is slow and sometimes painful, but as the saying goes:

“Slothliness is next to Godliness”.

“Slothliness is next to Godliness” 310 x 180 x 80mm Cotton thread and rubber 2019

The end.

The group exhibition “Domestic Craft” curated by Nicole O’ Loughlin runs until the 22nd of December. So if you are in Tasmania, feel free to visit the Rosny Farm, where you can also grab a catalogue:

10 reasons …

Studio news/blog

Why I decided to embroider on rubber….

because my life was hanging on a thread

because it makes ‘sew’ much sense

because I wanted to tread lightly and use what was available

because I needed a challenge

because the act of sewing is meditative

because i fell in love with the process

because rubber is tough and can be seen as masculine

because thread is delicate and an be seen as feminine

because i like the juxtaposition of thread and rubber

because nothing is what it seems.

Artcrush: The writings of Marlene Dumas

Artcrush

“Het kwaad is banaal” (Evil is banal) 1984 Oil on Canvas – Marlene Dumas

If been struggling lately to re-write an artist statement for my upcoming exhibition in September; and since we are celebrating Women’s day tomorrow, I thought it would be a nice idea to share one of the many artists who I admire (in this case Marlene Dumas)’s writings:

P.S where she writes ‘paint’ I read “Embroider” 🙂

Stink Afrikaners – Artist Statement

Art portfolio- my work

Today is the official opening of the Woordfees in Stellenbosch, so I thought it would be a good time to publish my Artist Statement for my solo exhibition titled: Stink Afrikaners at this years festival:

Tagetes erecta African Marigold/Stink Afrikaners

Die plant African Marigold, in Latyns bekend as Tagetes erecta en in ons volksmond as Stink Afrikaners is die inspirasie vir hierdie reeks werke. Die title van die reeks is n woordspeling op stink, wat beide n Afrikaanse en Englese woord is, en Afrikaners, mense woonagtig in Afrika or mense wat Afrikaans praat. Die reeks as n geheel verwys na die African Marigold as plant en veral die oorsprong en geskiedenis daarvan.

Native to the Americas, where it is known as the Mexican marigold and the Aztec marigold, this plant was gathered in the wild by the Aztec to be used for medicinal, ceremonial and decorative purposes. The flower of the plant, also called “flower of death” is still used in the annual Mexican festival Dia de los Muertos each year. It is also commonly planted in cemeteries. It was this reference to death and the context of Afrikaans as a living language which I wanted to explore in this series of work.