I recently opened my first group exhibition with Rare Gallery in Cape Town. It was an honour to exhibit alongside some of my personal favourite South African artists including pop art legend - Fringe, acclaimed South African photographer-turned-painter - Fhatuwani Mukheli and rising star - Samurai Farai. The show includes my Era Series which I completed earlier this year.
The Era Series is a small collection of works, consisting of three small-scale oil paintings and a medium-scale volcanic ash, gold leaf and PLA sculpture on a concrete base.
The works speak to a changing of seasons, both literally and figuratively. In sequence, the three paintings (Era I, II, III) depict an apocalyptic event, an “in between” time period, followed by a bright new dawn. As the world goes through major changes, they imply that each period is meaningful and holds beauty in its own way.
The sculpture shows gold cracks emerging from black volcanic ash (a material made of the destruction of the old, but is also very fertile for new growth), a gesture towards how our inner selves emerge from the ashes.