Venus

I take the South African landscape as my departure point to delve into the history of our land and those who work it. In the series “After Pierneef”, I lay down individual shreds of decommissioned South African bank notes – tapestry-like – in order to present my contemporaneous take on Pierneef’s historic and iconic landscapes. Simultaneously, I use finely crushed clays mixed with oxides and oils, to echo the textures and colours of our landscape.

I was able to access and use these shredded banknotes following extensive consultation with the SA Reserve Bank, specifically on the grounds that the metaphor behind the works is the “recycling of value”. This makes the unique materiality of the artworks central to their meaning. Simultaneously, I observe that the distinctive colours of our five different denominations echo the predominant colours of our landscape. Ochre reds (R50), mustard yellows (R200) and drab browns (R20) might reflect the clays of central and eastern South Africa, or the sand-stone rocks and soils of our south-western coast. Khaki, olive and pastel greens (R10) seem to suggest the sparse vegetation and scrubby eucalyptus trees of the Karoo, or perhaps the vast pastures of the West Coast. Simultaneously, gun-metal greys and watery blues (R100) may reference the spreading African sky. Could these colour choices of our currency have been deliberate, I wonder?

My work resonates with the idea of enormous wealth reduced to waste – only to re-emerge in a valuable new form. At the same time, these landscapes probe notions of labour, commodification, value and desire.