Is sprung in distinctive styles
They present a fascinating contrast and reflect on her evolution through career phases. By
way... The white liberal David Pratt was also tied up to British liberalism, another kind of imperialism at that time. Whereas Tsafendas was sort of a victim of all of that, he was a marginalised person, he wasn’t white, he was of mixed race, half Greek...”
An important element about multimedia artists is the ability to formidably develop a distinctive style for each medium. Siopis has advanced this ability into expertise. She transcends divergent characters of being a filmmaker and a painter. Her work suggests the etiquette of two independent professionals, and the two exhibitions can even be categorised as transdisciplinary.
The paintings in Johannesburg are a complete transition from the film work in Cape Town, from controversial archival history in moving picturesque to psychological experiments of a calming silent medium, expressed in abstract form and figuration.
She unfolded the mystery of abstraction in her own perception, that “abstraction can be representational, the same way the representative can be abstract”.
That statement is emblematic of her working formula, which is “openness” and “allowing material to inform the creator of its consistency, fluidity or solidity, after which a relationship is established based on a character of free will”, she said.
While discussing the painting Rebellious Spring and how abstract art can be influenced by a collective unconscious, it was discovered that the title also has an indigenous Xhosa connotation, translated as Inkani ye Ntwaso, attached to the refinement of personality or ego, with relation to time or season. Her interpretation: “Firstly, I don’t love the term abstraction in art, abstract thought yes, but the word tends to be attached to art history as a style rather than a way of being.”
The concept of spring as a metaphor for new beginnings is majorly affixed to personal evolution with time; it follows all the chaos of confusion and loss; it is the joyous season of rebirth, colour and fresh air.
From an indigenous awareness, as mentioned above, spring is considered rebellious when it blooms in an unfamiliar pattern, because the new type of produce is yet to be understood. Which may also require a new set of utensils for consumption – a situation not strange in the work of Siopis, who has an eloquent history of painting periods and styles – proficient and evolutionary.
The psychoanalytical approach of her feral figurations permits the audience to experience the gallery as a space of reflection, refreshment and an acceptance of a new vision, openly.
Communion, 2011,