Leaving city for peace, nature
Bathurst artist’s mural symbolises life’s balance
Self-taught artist Ashleigh Bayman moved from Cape Town to Bathurst for a more peaceful and natural lifestyle.
After majoring in linguistics and psychology at Rhodes University, she realised that wasn’t the career path she wanted to follow and decided to become a full-time artist instead.
The skilled portrait and abstract artist’s first public mural, The Great Work, is displayed in York House, in York Street, painted as a gift to the community of Bathurst.
“The Great Work is the human story.
“We are all born vulnerable and dependent,” Bayman said.
“Just like baby birds, we all have to find our own path, face our own dark forests and seek our own light.
“Perhaps some of us choose to remain in the bright city, seeking refuge and comfort in community and convenience, finding inspiration in the ambitious and progressive energy of the human collective.
“Others, perhaps, choose to live in the house on the hill, looking out to new worlds, yet still within proximity of the familiar ways of the old world,” she said.
“Others still may choose to brave the rough seas, learn to fly or get lost in deep space.”
With the mural, Bayman hopes to encourage people to read the broader message.
“The message is to respect each human on their unique journey through this life, to each choose our own path and to be true to it, and to live in harmony with all the many different humans and life forms that we share this miracle of a planet with.”
Bayman plans to co-ordinate community based artistic and educational programmes for youth and adults in the area.
She says these will deal with current and pressing issues for local people, such as literacy, gender violence, equality, sustainability, nutrition, self-care and emotional intelligence.