Can history be mended?
Driving past the Voortrekker Monument so many times, the image and patterns of the impressive architectural structure and window panels reminded me of the intricate design of doilies. This journey took me further back in history when I researched the history of the Voortrekkers and in particular the Voortrekker-women and their crafts and hardships.
I used the knitted rope doily as a floor of departure and a path of fragility. I refer to the constructed space as a reconciliation room: a fragmented and fragile space where one can confront one’s own history and attachments to it.
7000m of cotton rope was used to crochet the structure and 300 crocheted miniature doilies was attached to the crocheted strings of rope.
Crocheted Cotton rope on metal welded ring
I appropriated the window panels of the Voortrekker monument digitally working only from photographs.
I casted the pattern of the window panels in concrete, and deranged them as a metaphor for the fall of apartheid symbols
The difficult mathematical construction (Balsa wood) of the window panels using the 1/3 method of Pierneef and Moerdyk.
Embroidered symbols using black cotton yarn as a metaphor of the end of an era. I used the rear side of the cloth emphasising change.
Embroidery wrong side.
I used a circle as a symbol of unity and femininity and pose the question if histories should be deconstructed.
I used a circle as a symbol of unity and earth and pose the question if histories should be deconstructed.
SASOL New Signatures Finalist, 2015