My work is about the strength of woman, capturing moments of their daily lives. In a special way it acknowledges the different attributes I always see in my mother.
I use charcoal drawing and acrylic painting on canvas, applied in the form of a wash.
The washes mimic the constant wish that some women have to wash away certain experiences they have undergone in their lives.
I chose deliberately to wash the canvas and allowing the paint to drip as a metaphor for the women’s tears of pain but also their tears of joy and success.
My choices of colours are black, sepia or pink. This is both a reflection of time that is needed for healing, as well as portraying the tension of their daily lives.
Most portraits are drawn in the form of bust figures, like the idealized eternal youth and strength of the Roman and Greek statues, which to me signifies pillars of strength and is also a reflection of womanhood and of passing time, like the shades of old photographs or the color of aging and rusting material.
To me, these Greek and Roman statues signifies the strength of the depicted figures but whilst I draw inspiration from this, the idealization of the women in my paintings are instead a more truthful representation of the real and everyday lives that women lead.
These moments captured in my works represent sensitive issues around the world; I use Johannesburg as a point of reference. Johannesburg is a cosmopolitan city that attracts people globally from all social, political and cultural back ground, especially from the neighboring African countries, people move to Johannesburg in search of work.
It is especially within this multi-cultural, work deprived and overpopulated environment of Johannesburg, where I encounter the strength of the women I come across on a daily basis.
