Goodman Gallery presents a series of new paintings by Cape Town-based artist Marsi van de Heuvel, titled Skoonveld - an Afrikaans word selected by the artist for its implied study of the act of disappearing. For these works, the malleable medium of paint is deployed to explore the act of fading as part of the artist’s broader interest in what it means to belong to a place, to a family and to a particular culture.
Applying the word “skoonveld” to the systematic historical erasure of the culture of a diverse group of people whom the apartheid government labelled “coloured”, the artist explores this erasure through her discovery of family photographs that record their experiences living in Upington, Graaff Reinet and Umtata during this period in South Africa’s history:
The foundation for this body of work comes from Lima’s research on Brazilian folklore and spiritual imaginaries from the countryside, where she grew up. Her interest in the natural world and cultural syncretism histories is also represented materially through the use of dye extracted from plants and vegetables. The abstract fabric assemblages exist as floating structures suspended across the gallery space.
Artworks
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Cropped compositions recreate ordinary scenes such as children at school, a father holding his young daughter and women dressed in their Sunday best. Inviting the viewer to recognise themselves, their own families and the legacy of identity in the absence of a formally recorded history. This painstaking reinterpretation and commemoration of these photographs explore the lives of her family members through the legacy of trauma caused by apartheid’s racial classifications and forced removals.
Artist Bio
