"Litmus Skin"
Bernice Stott
Bernice Stott
Artist’s Statement:
In Litmus Skin the artist has used a series of photographs evoking a
childhood that seems mixed with horror and delights. The motif of a circle indicates a symbol of
protection: the circle a child draws around her/himself and the circle of protective
love a caring mother traces around her children. A circle can also refer to a cycle, in this
context a cycle of deprivation, which can be disrupted and replaced with
roundness and fullness of being. The cycle
of deprivation can be broken by an individual becoming conscious – loving, enacting
new behaviours, ritualizing new events – and through a supportive community.
South African children charter
potential hell realms of poverty, dispossessions and abuses. Peter Machen, referring to the Pinky-Pinky
series in Penny Siopis’ work said “Stripped of our skin, we are all the same
colour underneath. Adrenalin tastes the
same to everyone. Whiteness might be
pinkness but pink is not whiteness” (Machen, P pg 16). Red is associated with various meanings. In Litmus
Skin red is primarily the colour of violence, blood, passion, victimhood
and wounding.
Another concern in the
exhibition is learning to love the work of art making. And so, there is another dimension to red, it
expresses the importance of devotion to the work. “When it shows the Work turning red, it
signifies not only a new level of vitality, the red of blood circulating once
again, but also the red of the heart, the heat of love.”(Moore, T pg. 156).
References:
Machen, Peter 2006
Red. KZNSA Gallery Catalogue.
Moore, Thomas 2008. A
Life at Work. Piatkus. London.
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