This series, ’In the Garden’, is inspired by memories I have of my childhood and the objects that captivated me. Remembering and reimagining these items as an adult gives them a new meaning, yearning for my youth and looking forward to reliving it through the eyes of my son.
Whimsy and imaginative play marked my childhood. I was often (still am) lost in thought, and caught merrily talking to myself. Carefree and happy, these images are a reminder that life shouldn’t be taken too seriously, and we should always take time out to play.
The garden depicted in the images is my current garden, in my adult home. Superimposed in the landscape are significant objects that hold deep memories of my childhood, objects that hold nostalgia for most South Africans. What birthday party is complete without a jumping castle? Or a garden without it’s hand-painted gnome. Who can forget the magic of riding on a carousel, the joy of balloons on your birthday, or the wonder of a disco ball sparkling in the room? And why would we want to forget these things? I think it is so important for us to keep hold of them and to return to them from time to time, savouring the emotions they stir up.
All these risographs began as digital paintings on Photoshop or Procreate. Here are the eight digital paintings:
Once the digital paintings were complete I sent the raw files to DreamPress in Cape Town. DreamPress is the only Risography studio in South Africa, run by Candice Jezek. Her team took my raw digital files and created the beautiful risograph prints. I have wanted to explore Risography for so long and was not disappointed! In fact, I can’t wait till I can do it again, soon!
The first of the prints, ’Carousel’, was exhibited at the prestigious exhibition ’International Original Print Exhibition’ in London’s Bankside Gallery during 2022. It was a massive career highlight for me. These prints are also going to be exhibited in an exhibition later in 2023, curated by Genre Pretorius.
Each print is 20x20cm and is part of an edition of 25. They are each a bargain of R800. If you would like to purchase one, they are for sale at The Golden Goose Artistry in Pretoria’s Brooklyn Mall.