Misty Cliffs, Scarborough, Cape Town

                            Misty Cliffs Black and White, Scarborough, Cape Town

These two seascapes are inspired by Gerhard Richter and Hiroshi Sugimoto. I feel like I’ve gone full circle in my work. But shooting these feels slighlty different. I now have a better understanding of what both artists were trying to achieve as opposed to just capturing something beautiful. I’m a sucker for beautiful work, but I’m realising it’s easy to make something look beautiful. Furthermore the point is not to make it look ugly for the sake of looking ugly. Instead the aim I suppose is to find a balance between and create work that captures meaning and has depth. How it looks depends on the meaning embedded in the work. I’m trying to leave the seascapes now, or at least change the direction on them based on what I’ve learnt so far. I cannot continue painting for the sake of just making something look beautiful. That has never been my aim anyway, but a lot of the truth and raw details are covered up through out the process of my paintings . This is maybe what I want to show. 

I’m slowly getting behind the painting above. I’m not documenting the process behind this one as intensely as I did the last, but documenting it none the less. I’ve taken a different approach yet again and am painting in acryllic at the moment instead of oil. It’s awesome to only have to clean your brushes with water. 

In time, now 215cm x 170cm oil on canvass

Any time, now 40cm in diameter oil on canvass

The two paintings above were completed just a few days ago for a group show at a local gallery here in Cape Town called Salon91

More to follow

Sometimes I tend to spin out. Ask myself why am I doing this, have doubts and basically go into a state of panick. During these times I’ve started to realise that the best thing to do is to lock myself in my studio and just make stuff. This way instead of dwelling on the thoughts I am rather being productive.

On Wednesday the 9th of May at 18:00 White Termite by Liza Grobler opened at the Brundyn and Gonsalves gallery in Cape Town. The exhibition draws loosely on Eugene Marais’s book, Soul of the White Ant as well as many of Lizas’ own thoughts and ideas. There are many recurring themes in each work which help to tie the executed exhibtion together to make it a piece in its own right. Below are a few photos taken just before the opening. I have had the privilege of assisting Liza for close to 3 months now with both this exhibtion and the Mooiuitsig to Mooi Uitsig artventure in Hangklip Baai in March. If you’re in Cape Town I highly recomend see-ing this show.

To read more about the show you can click here and see more photos here

all photos above ©swainhoogervorst

Installing LIZA GROBLER’S show, White Termite, opening on Wednesday 9 May at BRUNDYN AND GONSALVES gallery at 18:00.

The following images are all photographs from HAWK 2012. The photographs document some of the the installation of Liza Groblers’ artventure “mooi uitsig to Mooiuitsig”

All photographs ©swainhoogervorst