Forest
The Word for World is Forest
The subtitle for this section, is borrowed from Ursula K Le Guin’s 1972 science fiction novel, which explores themes such as environmentalism, anti-colonialism and indigenous rights. The devastating fires in the Amazon rainforest during the second half of 2019, caused a resurgence of concern about deforestation and the role that forests in general play in protection against climate change1 (Spring 2019). As early as 2010, The melting icecaps of Mount Kilimanjaro, have been attributed to deforestation on the slopes of the mountain2 (Rice 2010). This concept was investigated extensively and exceptionally in the work of Georgia Papageorge, Kilimanjaro southern glaciers (1996,2005,2006 2009).
It is however Le Guin’s use of the forest as symbol for what makes us human, in this novel, that influenced my interest in this concept.
Considering my personal, family history with forests, and the influence it wields on us, the forest has always served as a conduit for bringing us back in touch with the positive attributes of humanity.
My grandfather used to farm in the Hoekwil district, as children a visit to his farm, meant spending time in nature, putting down roots in the forest. The forest calms, the forest brings peace, and tranquillity, it mends rough family bonds. The forest becomes a symbol for harmony, a conduit for man existing in harmony with nature. Starting from this personal connection to the forest, I used photographs taken on a family trip to the Tsitsikamma forest in 2016, printed on (natural) Hanemühle Paper and merge them with photographs taken of the small protected milkwood forest in Hermanus. Both spaces where we as a family spent time. Through the assembling of this reality, I create a utopian space where man is in harmony with nature. Man is still depicted as the artifice within the natural space; The human figures are printed on vinyl and superimposed three dimensionally on the natural environment, symbolising man’s artifice within nature. These photomontages will be revisited in large scale oil on canvas.
1 https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2019-07-04-brazil-to-act-on-deforestation-if-
concerns-confirmed-minister-says/
2 https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2010-09-28-revealed-the-real-cause-of-
kilimanjaros-melting-ice-cap/
Woman on the Edge of Time I
Woman on the Edge of Time II
Herland I
Herland II
Walden I
Walden II
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