Digital Prints

I will now be having a limited addition of 10 digital prints per work.  Each print will be signed and printed on archival paper.  That means that it will not fade or distort for atleast 100 years. 
The digital prints will cost less thatn the original but are still classified as an artwork.

 Let me know if you are interested.  The originals as well as the prints can be posted any where in the world.

The Mlungu Islands of South Africa

.The Mlungu Islands of South Africa


On a trip to Venda last year with the Honours UJ students many of my some what idealistic views on poverty, race and segregation were challenged.  We stayed with a local family for three days experiencing rural life.  The locals were so intrigued by the white students which led me to ask our host, a Venda woman, if there was any difference between me, a Jozi born UJ student, and the white American Boston students that had been there three months before us.  Her response with a small grin finding the question a little silly was 'a white is a white, you are all foreighners'  (Mlungu being the word for a white person)
I clearly felt like a foreigner there, as did the black students, but on returning to Jozi I started noticing how separated whites are from blacks, even simply by language.  I have heard so many white conversations reminiscent  of 'Die Swart Gevaar' Expressing fear of twonships, fear of too many blacks moving into white suburbia, schools becoming 'too black.' The new South Africa is wonderful as long as my white world is not compromised!

I wanted a visual representation of just how many whites there are in South Africa compared to blacks.  Based on Stats SA website I created The Mlungu islands of South Africa.  This series of works shows statistical estimations on the ratio between whites and blacks in each province.  It also expresses the 'Black Sea'  that whites only pass through if necessary to get to their 'White Islands.'


I have chosen to make these works out of beads. Beads are used by many African cultures as a method of communication.  I am expressing my thoughts via this method suggesting that perhaps if whites do not want to feel like foreigners then they should open up to the reality that they live in Africa, and maybe communicating in an African language or method is the first step to changing this.

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Northern Cape

Kwa Zulu Natal

Gauteng

Limpopo

Free State

Western Cape

North West Province

Mpumulanga

Eastern Cape

SONG OF THE PICK -2012

SONG OF THE PICK-2012

SONG OF THE PICK - 2012 - Close up

This is a reproduction of a very famous work done by Gerard Sekoto during Apartheid.  Initially I was going to repaint the work and just add in my character.  I decided not to as I believe this work is well known enough that simply using the composition was enough of a connection.  Sekoto's work was a commentary on the society of the time-the physical strength of the black worker against the economical and authoritative strength of the white employee.  I have shifted this images composition only slightly, .I have added one character; a black man.  He stands between the workers and the white man.  He directs the workers, so he has some power, but that power still falls under the economical hand of the white man.  Politically we are living in a different society to the one Sekoto depicts, but economically how much have things actually changed?

This work has been cut out of paper.  I love this process for many reasons.  In this work I love that it is black and white, there is no colour, only light and dark.  I also love the fragility of the material which relates to the content and the uncertainty of South Africa post Apartheid.  I have always been told that I see the world too black and white, I have no mid tones.  This methodology proves that the world can be seen quite clearly in only black and white.

JULIUS WHO?

Julius who?-1

Julius who? - 1 Close up

Julius who? - 2 Close up

Julius who? - 2 Close up

Too many missing pieces to this puzzle!

Too many missing pieces to this puzzle - close up

I am certain this is not the end of this series, as he speaks more works will come.  Do we perhaps give this man too much of our time?  I have taken the headlines of the newspaper the day after Julius Malema suggested that we put it in our archives that one day he will be the leader of the ANC.  I am almost (not completely, but almost!) certain that in the future all this will be forgotten and so will his words.  For that reason I have made artworks about it so that in the years to come we can reflect and wrack our brain about that man..um....Julius who???

JUST A PIECE OF PAPER 3 - February


I could look at all 'the ugly' in this world and take my pick on subject matter.  I could show you the horrors we endure and shock you with visuals that will leave you feeling lost, hopeless and angry.  What is the point of that?  What is the point of showing what we already know; what we see every day on the news, in our lives, the stories we are told?
South Africa is a country with many problems and turmoils, as are most countries.  We live in a very visual age; we have all seen terrible wars, rape, death, disgust just by watching TV programmes!  The truth, which frustrates me with 'art to shock', is the obvious over sight that most people are good.  Most people are trying hard to raise their families, get their kids educated, be a part of their communities...
 I am tired of being shocked!
 I am tired of only being made aware of what is wrong within our society.  For these reasons I try make art that is a depiction of my existence in this world.  Art has the ability to expose the wrongs within a society, as it did, very successfully, during Apartheid.  But it also has the ability to remind us of beauty, of the wonder of being alive.  Art can inspire us by elevating the human condition.  Lots of modern art has forgotten this.
Like most of you I am sad sometimes, filled with great joy in others;  I am angry occasionally, often silly. This does not make my life 'small' or insignificant.  It may not seem dramatic... but it is my life and     so precious to me.  My life is of ultimate importance, as are all of yours!

 The language I am most fluent in is the language of art and I hope some of my works help you understand this beautiful, wonderful language!!! 

Protector

Protector - close up

The agony of life and certainty of death

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Grounded

Great Minds

More Great Minds for this series...although I understand the importance of the dead white guys, I find myself enjoying the South African philosophers much more!  Anyone out there have any other suggestions of great minds in South Africa.  I am eager to know more about our land, about the wonders at our door steps as I believe there is a lot more than we realise...if we looked at our own with the same amazement and respect that we do to foreign great minds, musicians, actors, artists I really think the rest of the world would do the same.  Perhaps it is time to do a series of works that shows 'the greats' of South Africa.  Any suggestions???

Desmond Tutu
Original SOLD
10 digital prints available

Jean-Paul Sartre

Simone De Beauvoir

Steve Biko without black background

Steve Biko

A new series I have begun titled 'Great minds'.  These works will hopefully be commissioned to a department in the university.
I have completed the first work on Steve Biko and while doing the work decided to read 'I write what I like' by Steve Biko.
What an inspiration. This book was written during Apartheid, his insight and clarity of thought is unbelievable.  What a wonderful project - reading and doing works of great minds.
Only one for now, but many more to come.
  Let me know what you think, on the work, on Steve Biko and his writings...

I draw what I like
original SOLD
10 digital prints available

DISengaged

This is my body of works for my Honours at UJ.  I received a distinction for it.  I have attached my artist statement and the works.  The concept behind this body of works relates to all of us.  Do we choose, as individuals, to sit by and watch our society being formed; or do we decide to participate, in our own small way, in creating a society we can be proud of.  The decision is for each of us to make, for ourselves-silently.  There is no need to scream it out and become actively involved in politics.  There is a need to stand by our own beliefs, to acknowledge one another and to live with honour and respect.  

Once again, please send me your comments. To my email as many of you have done, or onto this blog.  I look forward to hearing what you think of this body of works.  Thanks for looking!!!

SOLD

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