My images depict personal narratives and states of being- realized in an abstract visual form. It is expressionist work and feeling is conveyed through the energy of the brush mark as well as form and color. The work is an ongoing process of self-analysis, an arena where I question, explore and deepen my understanding of roles and identity. Essentially, the work can be characterized as a visual diary of inner thoughts and emotions that present an enigmatic, sensual and playful view of life’s journey.
Thematically there is a strong focus on family and identity and, on the whole, the subject matter (though mostly inspired by nature) is people oriented. In part, my subject stems from growing up in a large, multi- cultural and interracial family- this bred in me a fascination for the complexity of human relationships and emotions. I spent a significant part of my childhood and young adult life in South Africa and am influenced by African philosophies of collective identity, which are reflected in the Xhosa expression, “Umntu umgomntu ngabantu” – “a person is a person through a person”. Consequently, the process of self-identification in my work is frequently realized through my relationship with others.
There are Surrealist tendencies as well, goading the work towards the creation of new, hybrid forms. This stream-of-conscious approach to developing personally significant imagery suggests similarities to the work of the artist, Louise Bourgeois. For Bourgeois, her method recalls the free associative acting out of Surrealist automatism, with its goal of prompting the unconscious to the surface. The aim is both emotional release (which may take the form of humor) and self-awareness: discarding and selecting are integral aspects of my working process.
The work is also influenced by Abstract Expressionism: I was fortunate to study at the New York Studio School in the 1990's with Mercedes Matter, a woman central to the movement. Formal concerns such as placement and arrangement of form and color are balanced with chance and spontaneity and there is a desire to unlock the inherent expressiveness of the materials. African art is another influence, especially in its use of simplified and charged forms. Furthermore, to create figures in traditional African sculptural tradition is to exorcise, to rid oneself of negative thoughts and personas and in this respect the creation of art provides a crucial therapeutic function.
Above all, I hope to convey to my viewers the same great pleasure and delight that art making gives me and an expansive view of identity. A South African curator describes it as, “possessed of a sense of humor, eroticism and sensuality” (African Stories, Zola, Daily Dispatch, East London, South Africa, 2000). Some twenty five years have passed since that assessment was made- but I believe it still rings true.