My
first concerted effort at producing a work of art was in 1969. My
father often read to me from the Old Testament, which inspired my
painting, Noah’s Ark. We were living in exile from 1968 to
1970, in Greece, The Netherlands and England. Out of fear that the
South African government would either arrest or kill my father,
my parents had decided to leave the country for a few years.
I was
born into an artistic family in Johannesburg, South Africa in
1963 . It was the height of the Apartheid era and my father was
running the first multi-racial art school in South Africa. The
government strictly enforced a policy of segregation and mixed
race schools were illegal. The school developed out of twin ventures
launched in 1964. One was a private teaching venture, the other
was an artist's workshop for artists such as Dumile Feni, Esrom
Legae, Ben Arnold, Lucky Sibiya, Eric Mbatha, and others who needed
space and facilities rather than tuition. It later became The
Johannesburg Art Foundation which provided a launching platform
for several other community arts ventures. These include Fuba
Academy(1978) which gave rise to the African Institute of Art
at the Funda Center(1983), followed by the Thupelo Art Project(1985)
and The Alex Centre (1986).
After
graduating from high school I went to work for a design firm in
Pretoria called Design Criteria. I spent a year designing corporate
identities. I then went to teach and continue my studies at the
Johannesburg Art Foundation. I began teaching Airbrushing and
developed a course entitled, “The Image In Its Field - An
Investigation of Graphic Potentials.” These courses that
I created became the foundation for the design department. However,
I could not remain in South Africa under the Apartheid regime
due to to the mandatory five year conscription and the escalating
violence in Angola and the townships.
I moved
to the United States in 1983 where I have continued to live and
work. I have been working as a liaison between artists in Northern
America and Southern Africa, dedicated to cultivating exchanges
between these countries. I have returned to Southern Africa to
participate in the following Art Workshops:
Thapong
Workshop, Botswana (1989);
Pachipamwe Workshop, Zimbabwe (1992);
The Thupelo Art Workshop, South Africa (1992)
Tulipamwe Workshop, Namibia, (1994).
The Workshops
generally run for two to three weeks, have approximately 20 to
30 participants split evenly between men and women and culminate
in an exhibition open to the sponsors and the public. The Workshops
are a quiet place where one concentrates on the work, where distractions
are eliminated, where one learns to detect the traps that inhibit
creativity. They are the true underground of the art world.
In 1988,
I attended the Triangle Artists Workshop in Upstate New York,
where I met Clement Greenberg. This was a pivotal point for me
as a painter, as I made major breakthroughs in my painting. I
had already been working in a formalist genre with no specific
focus. This intensive two week workshop forced me to clarify,
focus and create in a way I had never experienced before. Being
one of the youngest participants I felt the pressure of being
surrounded by professionals from a range of countries.
In recent
years, I have been running educational programs at public and
private schools in New York, as well as through the Dia Center
for the Arts. These programs were inspired by the “Studio
in a School” program initiated by the Museum of Modern Art.
Within these educational programs, I have been conducting a variety
of classes including book-binding, design fundamentals, the map
of Africa (a four foot by six foot collage of the continent) and
recently, WTC and my NYC Identity. I enjoy doing these focused
short term intensive workshops. Because the end is in sight everybody
throws their whole being into it.
I am currently
working in the Chashama Theatre at 135 W.42nd St. through the
generosity of the Durst Organization.
My inspiration
comes from a unification of many stimuli. The sonic colors of
certain musical forms, ranging from the rhythms and harmonies
of jazz to multi-tracking and sampling, have been as much a creative
influence as my fascination with topographical features of the
earth, particularly in arid areas such as the Namib desert.
My large
brilliantly colored canvases owe much to the indigenous architectural
styles and geography of my native land. My paintings are activated
by organic fields of color and a variety of textures that are
evocative of the South African Landscape. I call them aerial or
torn landscapes. The emphasis of my painting is on plasticity
and expression rather than on the narrative. My aim is to reach
the energies that animate our psychic life - to penetrate the
spiritual being. I commence my painting with a process of laying.
Surfaces are not just painted, they evolve. Paint is allowed to
flow forming skins and crevices. One is seldom aware of brush
strokes. Stains, dribbles, splashes and thick running paint create
surfaces which advance and recede similar to that of geological
forms. In some of my paintings the texture of the canvas remains
palpable. It is left untouched or else it is absorbed into numerous
veils and waterfalls of color. I steer the paintings by creating
directional impetus with collaged canvas that has been torn, cut,
folded or frayed. It is the color
that dictates the mood of the painting whether it be pale and
luminous, bright and joyous or dark and threatening. In short
my paintings should be approached with an open mind, free of preconceptions.
