borderlands

August 24, 2007 - September 20, 2007

Swellendam SA

My contribution to Liminal States, a duo exhibition with Sheila Flynn

Gordart Gallery Johannesburg

See exhibition catalogue with full artist's statement HERE

Short artist’s statement

'Our hunger to belong is the longing to bridge the gulf that exists between isolation and intimacy.'

John O’Donohue

The most basic principle of medical Doppler – the imaging of blood vessels - involves viewing the resistance and flow of blood. Sound waves are transmitted through the skin via an ultrasound (sonar) probe, and echoes of different strengths bounce back to the probe to be translated into a graph for diagnostic interpretation. The underlying concept of this print installation is that the flat-line and peak of the Doppler graph suggest two  opposite poles of human experience - longing and belonging.

I used two printmaking techniques in combination – watercolour monotype and screenprint. This decision was made both to reflect us as individuals in each unique watercolour wash, and to represent the inflexible biological state necessary for our existence in the repetitive, identical screenprinted images.

Each frieze contains 60 prints titled (from top to bottom) ‘transmission’, ‘borderlands’, and ‘humus’.

‘transmission’ relates to our spirit or souls, represented by the sphenoid bone on our skull that transmits essential blood vessels and nerves. ‘borderlands’ narrates the pulse of our existence, represented by the Doppler Graph and the underlying text reading ‘longing’ and ‘belonging’. ‘humus’ depicts piles of bones, conveying our physicality. 

The friezes relate to three significant aspects of our existence: the brown bones of our physical instincts against which we are helpless; the power of our blood flow and heartbeat along with our painful attempts to deal with phases of longing and belonging; and the freedom of our imaginings. None has more importance than the other. 

The three-levelled frieze is intended to be installed in a way that borderlands would be hung at the level of the viewer’s heart, humus at the level of the pelvis, and transmission at the level of the head. Ideally it would run uninterrupted around a small room. 

Acknowledgements

O’Donohue, J. 1998. Eternal Echoes: exploring our hunger to belong. Bantam Press: London

Sanders, R.C. 1998. Clinical Sonography. Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins: Philadelphia.