LANDSCAPE

This work is from the solo exhibition “The giraffe looked up at the moon and dreamt of faraway places” in Johannesburg in September 2007.

The exhibition comprised 18 paintings (oil on canvas) and 30 drawings (oil on Fabriano paper) and sold out. The exhibition marked a change in direction for me. As the Citizen newspaper reviewed; "From the man whose signature style used to be heavy, expressive skylines with dark, bold colours comes a delightfully colourful, fun collection centered on the wisdom behind African proverbs.”

The work uses African proverbs to communicate my views on life. I did quite a bit of research to find the ones which were relevant to me, particularly those with simplicity that cuts through all the perceived complications of life in the 21st century.

Subject matter mainly uses the natural environment, which I find restorative, calming and inspiring. Especially with all the pessimistic news about destruction of habitats, this beauty still exists. I draw on scenes which I’ve experienced, I have a very clear memory of landscapes even from my childhood. I superimposed on these scenes simple line drawings inspired by Korean techniques – it’s been interesting to draw on Asian thinking to communicate African proverbs. Actually I found many similarities in the thinking of both.