This exhibition is a collection of oil paintings on stretched canvas. It is my interpretation of our beloved country’s transition, as parallelled in nature. The canvases are deliberately large, inviting you to take a walk amongst the trees and re-live some of South Africa’s iconic moments. I encourage you to contemplate where we have been, where we are, and where we are going, whilst constantly seeing hope in the magnificance of the once welcomed but now shunned Eucalyptus tree.

As an artist I have been drawn to nature and in particular trees. When faced with the scene of a potential painting, it must inspire me or else I don’t paint it. Trees inspire me. I get excited about capturing their essence on canvas. With each painting I never know the journey we will travel together; the discoveries along the way; the end result.  Once this process unfolds, each painting becomes a heart felt reflection of my ‘painting soul’.

The Eucalyptus tree, which is my current favourite subject, was declared an alien plant resulting in many beautiful specimens being cut down. Whilst becoming acutely aware of their fate in my everyday surroundings, I stumbled across a disertation by Brett Bennett entitled “A Contested Past and Present: Australian Trees in South Africa”. Bennett arrived at the conclusion that “the belief that native plants are “good” and exotic plants are “bad” has troubling and conflicted political and scientific precedents” and that we should be “wary of rigidly using these categories to determine environmental management practices. “

Bennett’s dissertation opened my mind to the parallels between the Eucalyptus tree’s journey and the more recent history of our country. It sparked deeper personal reflections on why, at times, I feel like an alien, how I am affected by what’s happening in our country, and what future my children will have in a country where, at times, we have been typecast as outsiders, much like the Eucalyptus tree.

As our nation transitions from the unspeakable injustices of the past, it must, of necessity bring change. We are all affected by what is happening. No one is afforded the luxury of being a passive bystander. Almost everyone has been a victim of crime. Frequently we knew someone murdered. Unemployment is high and the stain of poverty is everywhere. Global economic downturns affect everyone, dragging us all into a state of uncertainty, forcing rebellion, change and accountability. Recently I joined all manner of people, black, white, rich and poor, protesting on the roads in the name of an equal and fair society.  It was here I discovered a newfound unity and hope. A nation bound together by a common non-racial pursuit of integrity, an end to corruption, and a better life for all, locals and aliens alike. I felt the beginnings of a movement, a glimmer of hope to cling to. The possibility that we can save this our country of which there is no other quite like it.

I invite you to take your time and savour each painting, inspired by nature, but reflecting your own personal experiences in this our beautiful, conflicted country. Each canvas was created to represent recent steps in South Africa’s journey, starting with apartheid, Mandelas release, the process of truth and reconcilliaton, nation building, a state of hopelessness, and a period of  hope for a better future.

As an artist I am influenced by the old masters. Taking references from their techniques and practices. Using only the best canvases and paints, I follow the grand masters’ traditional methods of priming and building up my artwork is layers. My passion is the creative use of colour and subject to create artworks of value that resonates with the viewer, and that can be passed onto future generations.