August 24, 2007 - September 20, 2007
Gordart Gallery, Johannesburg
Borderlands
My contribution to a duo exhibition with Sheila Flynn
Artist’s statement
Our hunger to belong is the longing to bridge the gulf that exists between isolation and intimacy.
John O’Donohue, 1998.
The most basic principle of medical Doppler sonography – the imaging of blood vessels - involves viewing the resistance and flow of blood. Sound waves are transmitted through the skin via a sonar (ultrasound) probe, and echoes of different strengths bounce back to the probe to be translated into a graph for diagnostic interpretation.
The installation contains three friezes of 60 prints each, titled (from top to middle to bottom) transmission, borderlands, and humus, the middle frieze showing the Doppler flatline and peak, suggesting two opposite poles of human experience - longing and belonging.
The underlying concept of this print installation relates to our physical and spiritual existence. I used two printmaking techniques in combination for each image – watercolour monotype and screenprint. Each unique watercolour wash is intended to reflect our individuality, while the identical screenprints refer to the similarity inherent in our biological beings.
The frieze transmission relates to our spirit, represented here by the sphenoid bone in our skull that transmits essential blood vessels and nerves. Visually, its bony structure appears similar to that of a moth - which flutters towards the light.
The frieze borderlands refers to the beating of our hearts. The underlying red text - indicating the red baseline seen on a graph - reads 'longing' below the flatline and 'belonging' below the peak of the pulse, speaking of our phases of numb longing interspersed with vibrant feelings of belonging.
The frieze humus depicts loose bones, intending to convey how our bodies root us to a time and place, pulling us back and down.
The friezes relate to three significant aspects of our existence: the freedom of the imaginings of our spirits; the inevitability of our phases of longing and belonging - exile and inclusion; and the brown bones of our physicality. For human existence, no aspect has more significance than the others.
The friezes are intended to be installed so that borderlands hangs at the level of the viewer’s heart, humus at the level of the pelvis, and transmission at the level of the head.
The following sources were used to research my topic
O’Donohue, J. 1998. Eternal Echoes: exploring our hunger to belong. Bantam Press: London
Sanders, R.C. 1998. Clinical Sonography. Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins: Philadelphia.
