Reflections on art and being

I have been procrastinating a bit from getting busy in the studio again after my first solo exhibition. I have been working on some new work, which includes some very nice commissions, but I feel like I'm in a slight lull of creating - not in a phase where I can create a 'masterpiece'. So now it feels like I'm about to burst out of the lull again, but first want to grab this opportunity to reflect or report on everything that I've been feeling and thinking the past few weeks. The time following the opening of my exhibition turned out to be a time for introspection and planning 'what comes next'. Interestingly, although everything went really well and I am proud of what I achieved with the exhibition, I also feel a bit let down by myself. Knowing that I could have done so much more and so much better. This is not an overly active inner critic, don't worry, but rather a need or ambition to something that really has value to people. I have no doubt that my artworks, the writing in my catalogue, or my performance piece had an impact on each person who experienced it. Even if it is just an infinitely small impression that I have managed to make in how they think and feel about nature and 'wildness'.



Rather, I'm wondering what type of project or body of work I should create next, and how to make it more valuable to people - whether a specific community or any individual who interacts with the art. I have considered, and decided against, putting the work into a human-based creation such as a Green Artist Collective again, like the GYA initiative that I attempted to grow, and the short-lived Scapes Project. But the organizing tasks and mobilising efforts involved with such an endeavour is not for the faint-hearted, the very arty-and-disorganized or the overly-introspective (periodically asking myself why I am doing everything I'm doing, and expecting answers not excuses). I have also noticed that I'm not great with delegating tasks, nor am I good at leading, satisfying or managing an intern.

Which leads me to be quite content with putting energy into the monthly Land Art gatherings we're running in the Western Cape (facebook.com/capelandart or subsribe to bit.ly/capelandart to receive updates about the dates and venues), associated with Site_Specific, in which we're creating a platform for artists to create in the landscape as part of a small but supportive art community, from which bigger projects can grow organically or spontaneously.

Leaving me enough time to create... some more video art, mixed media artworks, functional art, Nuances-works, experimental work, sculptural work (something I'm being pulled into by some inexplicable force or interest) and more performance-based work or installations. I'm very interested in the link between how we see and treat ourselves and the women of our society, and how we treat the natural ecosystems that nurture and sustain us. Ecofeminism is being recognized as a movement or discourse within our dialogues about people & nature, and I think art is a powerful way to continue or contribute to the conversation.

As part of my work in this line of thinking, I'm tempted to go on a tangent, run into the mountain and go totally self-indulgent and self-nurturing, focusing on my own healing (we all need healing, the planet's distress is mimicking the illness within our own bodies and minds, or the disconnection that we seem to manifest for ourselves between our mind, body and spirit/soul) and just finding a space to BE - without needing to express anything creatively or verbally or in text. But then I wouldn't be true to me. Or my purpose. Which, after doing an exercise in an article by Astrid Baumgardner, reads something like this:

My purpose is to use my ow exploration of nature, and focused creative expression of my findings, in a way that makes people see the beauty in everything around them and also within themselves, so we can together create a world of people who are content, happy, balanced and compassionate, because I do not believe and cannot accept that we are meant to be unhappy, abusive, abused, cruel or destructive to ourselves, others or our planet.

So, in a nutshell, my best way of being is to focus on my artmaking - in whatever form it takes - and create with the intention of focusing people's attention to the beauty and wonder that's around them and within their own minds and hearts.

1 + 1 = the answer

As an artist, one of my main tasks is to ask questions. Yes, art is about the subjective expression of emotions and experience, but it is just as much about objectively finding facts and representing the current state of affairs in the time and climate that we live in.

I ask questions. A lot of them. Especially about the way that we interact with our environment - whether this be our social, urban or natural environment. I ask questions about the way we are living, conducting our work and using resources available to us. I ask questions about where our food comes from, our water flows from, and how our electricity is generated.

Those who know me well, know how passionate I am about nature conservation and how eagerly I support the work of Greenpeace, WWF and 350.org. Some people may think that I do this blindly. I don't. I repeatedly ask questions and source my information from a variety of sources. And when assimilating all the information, and doing the maths, I always arrive at the same answers.

Historically corporations and governments have been joining hands and heads to make profits at the cost of the environment and the people living around affected areas. And when they are caught out, or asked to take responsibility for the damage they inflict, they act swiftly - sowing seeds of doubt about the truth of the allegations, silencing whistle blowers and journalists through various tactics, and shoving as much as they can under any rug that they can find. The oil spills in the Niger and the Gulf of Mexico are two devastating disasters that has been downplayed very cleverly through expensive and well-driven media campaigns. The impact will be felt generations ahead, if not for the next two thousand years, but nobody is being held accountable.

Have you ever stopped to think about what climate scientists, environmental activists, whistle blowers, and other 'greenies' have to gain from 'pushing their agenda'? They stand to gain a healthy environment, they stand to gain knowing that they have done their job in conserving our resources so future generations can enjoy the quality of life that we are having, or better. Most of the time the people who win battles for the earth die without any recognition or fame for the hard work they do. Environmental organizations do not make profits, the little money they get are spent on the costs of doing their work and surviving as individuals, just like any of us. Have you thought about this?

The corporations, however, including the government, stand to gain A LOT, however, by denying their responsibility for cutting carbon, investing in sustainable development and supporting self-sustaining communities. The government is a corporation, remember - they deliver services to us, the tax payers or clients, and they have products, such as the natural resources of our country that they sell to other countries. The enormous global corporations such as gas companies make money from fossil fuels - and now shale gases obtained through hydraulic fracturing. Profits drive the vision and mission of the big corporations and governments, and I am not fooled by their propaganda and distraction tactics.

Remember how people in our country had to fight for the right to vote, for equal rights; how women had to fight for their rights? It's time we fight for our human right to have healthy air to breathe, and clean water flowing in our rivers. Do you know that Eskom, as well as Sasol, Total, Engen, ArcelorMittal and Northam Platinum has applied for the postponement (and and effectively exemption) from complying with the Department of Environment Affairs' Air Quality Act, because of the cost of applying technology to curb pollution? Do you remember the advertising to convince people it's perfectly fine and healthy to smoke cigarettes?

Yes, I get emotional and angry. Yes, I even seem to get irrational and unrelenting. But we cannot idly sit back and wait for things to get better, because they won't, unless we stand together and demand better solutions from our governments and the corporations. With the elections coming up, I dare you to raise your voice and demand a better life ahead. I dare you to step out of apathy and into the light of the truth that you can feel bursting from your heart. I dare you to claim the life that you and your family deserve. A healthy, inspired life, that is sustainable and in harmony with other people, with animals, and with our natural environment. There are SO many solutions, the people who are making all the money are just denying it, distracting you from it, or blatantly hiding these solutions from us. As humans we are resourceful, intelligent, and the technology has advanced incredibly in a very short time, wake up and demand real GOOD change.

2013: Change, simplicity and focus

This year is already growing into something beautiful. My first two weeks were filled with family time and recharging for the work that lies ahead this year. I also have some new opportunities, and the potential for new directions to take with my art, my writing and interactive projects. However, I feel that I have to find a balance between following new paths, and completing and continuing older projects and ideas.

Let's look at the specific aspect of my art - before starting a completely new and fresh body of work, I need to finish the series of work that I started last year. Or do I? Maybe not. My body of work on marks left on the landscape could be contained and accumulated into the SAND(SPOOR] performance that I performed at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown in July 2012. This means that I can focus my attention on a new body of work that expresses and symbolizes my own growth and the increasing maturity of my work. 

Another example is the continuation and building of the Scapes project and Green Your Art. Do I need to follow through on what I intended for these projects to become, or should I be open to them transform, develop and shift into something new or different? I think that I am ready to let go of the things that didn't work and flow in 2012, and to free myself from old expectations. I am open to collaboration and to these projects growing into something more focused, more simple, or that they merge with other organizations or groups in a way that we can make more of an impact together, with shared responsibilities, and joint energy and effort. If you're interested in being a part of the new direction for GYA (Green Your Art) and the Scapes project, let me know at art@janetbotes.co.za.

I am looking forward towards a year of renewed focused on creating art. With a renewed dedication towards exploring the processes and aspects of nature and landscapes; and expressing these explorations and insights through creative media and methods.

(eco)nversations GREEN ART 2012

After weeks and months of hard work, the exhibition was a great success! The exhibition, (eco)nversations GREEN ART 2012 was partnered with and hosted by the Green Expo in assocation with National Geographic Channel 281, held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) from 23 to 25 November 2012. The exhibition showcased selected contemporary art by eight artists including installation art, sculpture, found object art and drawing. 

www.greenart.artlovenature.co.za

www.thegreenexpo.co.za

More photographs:

(eco)nversations in my website gallery

(eco)nversations Album on my Facebook page

A WORD FROM THE CURATOR
Janet Botes

This exhibition was conceptualized and organized as an integrated part of the 2012 Green Expo, one of  its main aims being to offer Expo visitors the opportunity to view and engage with art that is dedicated to raising awareness, changing perceptions or inspiring appreciation for our environment . The artists exhibited were chosen for their personal and individual philosophies, convictions and the way that they express these in their creative work. 

Most of the artworks on the exhibition are quite conceptual and they vary in the use of material and different art forms. They are inspired by the underlying themes, solutions and causes of the environmental crisis and global warming, and they seek to involve, invite and inspire people rather than berate, depress and belittle the viewer. 

I hope that you find the works as inspiring and thought-provoking as I do, and that their image(s) live in your mind or heart in a way that may change or enrich your way of life and your interaction with and within nature. 

As artist and curator, as a woman and as a human, I believe that we are nature, as much part of it as each tree, praying mantis and raindrop. By not respecting and embracing all living things and the landscape, soil and earth that sustains us, we are destroying and discarding ourselves. When  you reconnect with nature within and of yourself, you reconnect with everything around you.  And when you rethink, recycle, respect, reuse and rehabilitate things, your life and the spaces around you will be enriched and these practices will become second nature. 

This exhibition was made possible through the collaboration, cooperation and generous support as well as help of some amazing individuals. I would like to thank each of the artists: Kai, Nicolle, Danelle, Stefanie, Janet, Simon and Claire: thank you all for your participation, hard work and effort with your own art and also as part of the group. Thank you Kai, for writing the manifesto which brings everyone’s voices together so eloquently. 

I would also like to acknowledge and thank Chris Naude, Robyn Carstens, Radi van Zyl, Thea Butler and Eljanne Lochner for their support, effort and encouragement, as well as everyone involved with the Collage Mural Project. And last, but not least, thank you to the family members of the artists, and anyone else who helps us to be the artists who we are, fighting for the things we love. 

Koekenaap workshop: part three

 

Losing track of time and my ability to keep a diary of the workshop, time flowed and snaked like a river. We took some more walks, and watched How Art Made the World, the Bob Marley documentary, and listened to Kathy Coates' Lagos, my Lagos. We also did blind contour drawing, portrait drawings as a group - using each other as models - and an incredibly fun exercise where we expressed the sound of music snippets onto a large-scale paper surface (basically musical chairs with drawing materials!)

Harriet, Mariam and George all busy with clay sculptures

It's not just about the art.
It's about the people, about connections, collaboration, community and supporting each other. And how fitting that I would regain an enjoyment for figure drawing during the workshop - thank you Nico & Leeu for the life drawing session, it was incredible and very supportive!

Sulandi Hunter

Helping each other, encouraging and giving constructive criticism - this created a space of respect and understanding, in which I felt an absolute freedom to create and express. I want to bring that feeling into my everyday life - we all need a comfortable and supportive space to live and grow in, not only artists.

Just some of the incredible, inspiring artists that I was privileged to meet. From left to right: Miranda Kruger, Nico Eilers, George Meyer, Jarrett Erasmus, Wanda Bester and Donovan Stevens

Photograph. Look. Listen. Feel. THEN create.

I know I've been posting a lot of photographs, rather than paintings, drawings and sculpture works. This is generally because I've posted the works for the exhibition in Vanderbijlpark, Scrapes and Scapes, directly onto my website, and due to the current phase where I'm gathering inspiration through looking, taking photographs and just taking in my surroundings again, before jumping into creating new works again. This statement and questions by Andrea Brand sums this phase up very nicely:

"Life is a constant process of creation. The universe pulses with the energy of forming and creating anew all the time. Life offers us many opportunities to explore and discover something unique. We just have to observe nature around us.The human race creates all the time. The importance here is how we do it and what effect it has on our immediate surroundings. Are we creating in order to achieve a certain goal in mind already i.e. considering the end result? Or can we allow ourselves to move with the process, being there every step as it unfolds and emerges, being conscious, and being aware"

- Andrea Brand, What does it mean to be creative?, http://www.andreabrand.co.za/be-creative

Two different perspectives

With a view over mountains and sea
One day with peace and tranquility
The next day with storm and wind

Near the foot of Africa
And part of the Sun Path of our ancestors
With age-old rocks around the sands of time

Here we find peace and truth
Here we can find ourselves.

Kalk Bay, 2011



Leaves on a table within my studio. Hidden underneath a roof. Captured within 4 walls. Contained within the control of my hands, my will, my ego. Control. Fear. Anger. Despair. We all long to feel connected again. Leaves plucked from a tree - death, decay and renewal.

Dreams inspire and guide

The above two small watercolour sketches are already a bit old, but it's always good to look back at what you've been doing a few months ago, as it gives you perception into where you're going and how far you might have come already.

Thanks to the Concept Development workshop by Kai Lossgott at VANSA earlier this month I have started to develop good, sustainable and easy-to-follow methods and habits that's already proving to work. I'm creating and producing new works, and also working on some projects that are more focused around action rather than merely creating an artwork. New artworks will be exhibited in May in Vanderbijlpark, after which I will add them onto my website. I'm also still expanding the Nuances series, which are becoming quite popular at the moment, I am happy to say!

As 'n klein voorsmakie vir Meimaand se uitstalling: die werke - gemengde media werke, drukke, tekeninge, skilderwerke asook 'n uitvoerstuk en installasiewerk - vorm deel van die Scapes projek, wat fokus op die landskap en menslike interaksie daarmee. Vir Scapes & Scrapes, wat in Bodutu Gallery by die Vaal Universiteit van Tegnologie uitgestal word, word teenstellings getref tussen ongeskende landskappe en natuurlewe teenoor areas waar besoedeling en omgewingsbeskadiging plaasvind. In laasgenoemde is die fokus op die manier wat die landskap geskend word en die gesondheid van minderbevoorregte gemeenskappe benadeel word vir die finasiële baat van 'n selektiewe groepie oor-bevoorregte mense.

This really caught my attention in my reading list on Blogger this morning. Read more about a story that will unfurl about this bird's journey or travels on the Resurrection Fern's blog.

Rethinking and Reviving

For a little while I thought that I need to create art that people want to see, admire and buy. That I need to try and follow a trend, choose my subject matter more wisely or even change the way that I create my artworks.

Change of direction and perception

I have since, however, revived and remembered that I need to stay authentic and true to myself, and follow my heart and passion. The rest will follow. I just need to stay on my own path that makes the most sense to me. Everything is relative in this complex and beautiful world of ours. There will always be people with criticism and cynicism to make you rethink your perception about life. And there will also always be people who you can count on to be encouraging, supportive, wise and loving. To all those who love, support and encourage me - especially those who give constructive criticism and motherly preaches - you know who you are and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.



Landscape in progress

So now onto the juicier bits - I am working on new landscape works, found object sculptures and collages, and also veering more into botanical art. I'm continuing my explorations with watercolour and will have more to show soon!

Re-awaken, Express and LIVE

This was an idea I had a while back, for a triptych that shows both the Cape Town and Joburg skyline on either side of a hand with roots at the end of the forearm. If and when I do it, the leaves might be a tattoo on the arm, rather than just twisting around the arm.

On quite another note:

For too long I have stared blindly at the solutions and aspects of myself begging for attention/to be expressed that are right in front of me...

I have been trying to integrate focus, balance and simplicity in my daily life, but constantly fail to bring it into practice in my art. I have constantly been aware of the cycles that happen throughout our years, seasons, relationships and lives, and also the interconnectiveness of everything, but neglected to express these realizations and truths in my art. I have also been trying to focus and move towards re-awakening my own connectiveness and knowledge of nature, as well as re-awakening my body through movement and exercise, but because art is so central to my life and I have NOT fully integrated nature and movement into my art, I have not succeeded or made much headway in either.

So the path that I will follow from here on will lead me towards exploring and expressing balance, focus, simplicity and cyclic processes in my art, which will more and more take shape in the process, and documentation of Land Art, performance art and other more 'transient' forms that capture the essence of the above elements.