Artwork pushes the boundaries at UJ
AUCKLAND PARK – A thought provoking art exhibition entitled ‘Ontluikende on/gemak” features at the University of Johannesburg’s FADA art gallery.
The University of Johannesburg’s (UJ) Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture (Fada) Art Gallery is currently showcasing an exhibition of sculptures exploring the use of material and biomorphic forms to convey aspects of gendered and cultural identity constructs.
Artist and student Sophia van Wyk submitted these artworks in partial fulfilment of her master’s in Visual Art at UJ.
“In my solo exhibition, Ontluikende on/ge-mak, I explore the emergent nature of my Afrikaner female identity and the on-going changes in conceptions of my identity. In my series of sculptures, I incorporate second-hand furniture with biomorphic forms. Tension and disruption is created between the interaction of the form and the domestic objects,” Van Wyk said, describing the intention behind her work.
The biomorphic form may be read as mauling the furniture in a ‘dangerous’ way, which leads to the destruction of the furniture piece as an ‘object of comfort’.
Through these artworks, Van Wyk questions her role as an emergent female Afrikaner in post-apartheid South Africa.
“My conflicting relationship between feelings of comfort and discomfort stem firstly, from grappling with my Afrikaner legacy and my longing to construct an emergent South African identity that stands apart from this limiting inheritance. Secondly, from my position as a post-feminist grappling with breaking away from the limiting Afrikaner female ‘volksmoeder’ stereotype, by employing both masculine and feminine work techniques while embracing feminine complexity at the same time,” she said.
Van Wyk’s exhibition is running until 6 February at the Fada Art Gallery at the UJ Bunting Road campus, between 9am and 4pm in Auckland Park.
Details: Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture (Fada) 011 559 1098.
