The work took as its starting point natural phenomena such as light, surface and structure. Simple iterations of regular forms and processes result in complex objects evoking the rich, sensual nature of their sources. The works range from cut paper to assembled acrylic constructions, and are typically labour-intensive and visually dense, continuing my exploration of process, pattern and design.

‘Phenomena’ was held at João Ferreira Gallery in 2005. Photos by Dave Southwood.

Read a review here.

‘Phenomena’ (installation view)

Froth, 2005, acrylic, 133 x 93 x 19cm

This work was made from signs reclaimed from a service station, laser-cut and re-assembled into a complex structure that changes nature – from dense and colourful to clear and spacious – from different angles. The object bears some resemblance to a bubble raft, or perhaps a cloud, riffing on the transience of such phenomena and the relative permanence of plastic. This had been an abiding concern of mine for some time.

Sieve, 2004, silkscreen, paper, 188 x 105cm

Sieve (detail).

I began with a  photograph of an early evening sky. With some rudimentary Photoshop skills, I analysed the colour composition of this, changing as it got further from the horizon. I translated that information into a system, whereby I overlaid four sheets of paper – cyan, yellow, magenta and white – and cut carefully sized and positioned apertures in each, allowing just the right predetermined amount of colour to be visible in each respective layer. Your eye completes the picture, optically mixing the small ‘pixels’ of colour into an approximation of the sky on which it is based.

Plume, 2005, polypropylene, 206 x 190 x 7cm

This barely visible construction is made from polypropylene sheet material held together by tension and friction. Like Froth above it bears some resemblance to cloud or smoke and once again pits the permanent and the ephemeral against each other.

Wrinkle, 2005, polypropylene, 63 x 32cm

Wrinkle was made by cutting, scoring and folding a thin sheet of polypropylene. The sheet changes from smooth and flat at the top and bottom to three-dimensional and puckered in the centre where the cuts are largest and the folds sharper. It was based to some degree on the disturbance wind makes on water.

Peaks and Troughs, 2005, acrylic, 26 x 36 x 4cm

This is a scaled-down acrylic version of a large outdoor work at the Westin Hotel in Cape Town. The intention for the larger work was to create a structure which contained some space but allowed some flow at the same time – to be present and absent to different degrees at different times. This has been an enduring interest of mine which I would explore more fully in my 2023 show ‘Substantial‘.

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