What is your favourite film of all time?!
Run Lola Run is one of my favourite films. I loved that three alternative situations presented themselves to Lola and she took them on with superwoman prowess! For me the narrative of the movie is less important than the connective thread that is woven between the various situations.
What music are you currently listening to and why?
I am listening to Radioheads King of Limbs at the moment. Its so layered and sexy and hypnotic; the music just keeps on rolling and its great to paint to!
Which living artists do you most admire and why?
Oh, so many! Yinka Shonibare,for his identity consciousness,Judith Glantzman for her manic slightly macabre figures;Ghada Amer for her beautiful stitching;Diane Arbus for her mad photographs;Cy Twombly,Christian Boltanski,Paula Rego,Lucian Freud,Marlene Dumas,Nancy Spero,Luc Tuymans,Nalini Malani,Carla Busuttil..the list goes on and on! And not to forget local artists such as Alexandra Makhlouf and Ransome Stanley to mention a couple.
Which deceased artist do you most admire and why?
Otto Dix and Hieronymus Bosch come to mind, the latter for his imagination and the former for giving us German Expressionism,Frida Kahlo for her passion.
Which exhibition that you have visited made the greatest impact on you and why?
A couple of years ago I was at Mass MoCA a huge centre for contemporary art in Massachusetts,USA and I was blown away by the sheer power and scale of the work of Huang Yong Ping. His installation exhibition called the House of Oracles, a treatise on opposition and association, is conceptually and visually brilliant, while his working drawings show the beauty and obsession of the relationship between East and West. Nothing exists in isolation.
What is the question you get asked most frequently about your work and how do you answer it?
What’s it about?
My response is that my paintings are like personal diaries; Random thoughts and images coexist and overlap with events both personal and universal. I paint as a therapeutic antidote to my life.
What/ who inspired you to be an artist?
I have always been involved in art making: my mom was an artist, although she doesn’t see herself as that anymore as was my grandfather, who painted in his free time.
Can you tell us about where you make your art and what if any, the significance this location has.
I have recently moved to the peaceful little village of Fish Hoek in Cape Town after having lived in Johannesburg for too long. I took a ‘gap’ year travelling in Central and South America, leaving my son to manage my house where I tasted real freedom! Now I am back in my peaceful studio where memories of my travels co-mingle with my daily activities as fodder for my work.
What do you like most about being an artist?
Having a voice; the ability to find myself and lose myself at the same time but most of all…freedom!
What is your greatest achievement as an artist to date?
I feel so fortunate to do what I love. Wow, that feels like an achievement! Okay, so I got my MA with distinction as a ‘mature’ student conquering memories of bad school achievements.
What are your plans for the coming year?
Make art, connect with communities around me, run inspiring art programs, learn to do etching properly, think of another travel destination, find love, walk my dogs and live with peace.