Artwork

story of herman’s life

essence of work is a personal reflection on the artists life in africa the context is surreal by nature paradoxical swinging from one end of the scale to the other seven years of self imposed exile from art until 1992 struggle was to reconcile art and religion dispensed of all monuments to the ego, artworks, diaries and materials returning with more objectivity learning to accept the gift not driven by ego and hunger for recognition but follow the heart and make honest art poverty a wall impossible to scale no materials but bursting to express renewed passion scrap papers bound by electrical  wire a diary this hunger for art superseding long period of abstinence hunger was insatiable starvation for years now unleashed wild with anticipation of what could be achieved all the materials even those which were used to create the sketches in the diaries were found bits of paper sweet wrappers material cut out of trousers tea bags mud bits of flowers sweat and even hair from the beard and many more unusual sources the hardship didnt impede but rather heightened the creative intuition and this gave birth to making handmade art materials embarked on refining raw linseed oil creating stand oil and sun bleached linseed oil days in libraries feverishly researching paint history uncovering old masters recipes found sources for raw materials and using samples for doing oil paintings astonished at what could be achieved with handmade paints colours intense more control of the drying times and consistency supplied raw materials to art supply shops in south africa encouraged to write a book by the university of south africa following a lecture given to fine art students negative experiences interlaced with the positive gives the hungry soul relief society is obsessed with trying to keep emotional fluctuation in a small narrow band if this is living how will you really know joy without experiencing real heartache how will you know what being satisfied feels like without knowing real hunger we are being protected from the very things that could enrich our lives is something real because more than one individual can embrace it is a dream any less real than that of the conscious works are undiluted material from the subconscious dreams provoked by creativity in the conscious paintings and sculptures of relief merged with three dimensionality surreal characters with realistic paintings and visa versa cloning from one painting to another using a fragment of one painting as a seed for a new yet uncharted artwork exploring ideas in dreams such as the presence of colour and the details of the physical objects found them to be no different to those we term as real dreams inter-twining with reality forming a pattern camouflaged as normality simple unadulterated urge to create art from natural materials in the environment art is a cocktail mixture of mission duty ego spirituality obsession idealism passion instinct & survival under apartheid ostracised for being english speaking by the afrikaner branded as a communist and fired by the employer on the one hand and on the other under the new south african government experiencing reverse apartheid for being a male white afrikaner and again isolated three pairs of mud coated arms snaking around the corner to bewilder unsuspecting passers-by teacher horrified at the depravity of this uncivilised child kneeling on a cold concrete passage floor with hands on the head endless hours of pain racked bony knees the only punishment that fits this heinous crime death violating the magic of innocence as the hero is snatched away a time of grief consoled by interspersed diminutive appearances in dreams uprooted to a land of inheritance by birth reluctant to retrace steps back to afrikanerdom child in rhodesia then zimbabwe modelling toys in clay from a stream carving bits of wood and bark with razor blades living in an untamed world unsupervised driven by instinct unchecked baboon attacks for not sharing the kafirorange fast enough consume fried locusts and mopane worms with matabele people at their khaya supplementing the already unusual diet with monkey bread bushman seed suurings and wild figs bathing in stagnant mosquito infested mud pools savouring the smell of the decomposed organic matter digging holes in the ground smelling the raw earth longing to be one with it sculpting a body in the sand inserting a matchbox filled with live insects for the heart waking next morning anticipating a cloned being to bow down in reverence to its creator fascination for rhino beetles sheer power and rugged glossy beauty repulsion for the one inch unsavoury matabele ant a smell like a bad acidic fart only when threatened motivation similar to that which inspired the bushmen in africa to create cave paintings inspires to create much of the art the bushmen painted before going out to hunt used it as a means to psyche themselves up so that when they leave on the hunt they would already in their minds have performed the act of killing the animals so all they had to do then was to realise what they had already accomplished mentally in the same way created non representative surreal artworks depicting the wife and artist in loving and affectionate poses at a time when relationship was going through a rough patch, believing against all odds that their relationship would improve was struggling to sell paintings in south africa when the economy crashed created artworks showing the artists works hanging in major art galleries all over the world amongst that of the masters significantly influenced by the ndebele tribe in south africa dazzling primary colours used and the simple delineated areas of compositions living under the bright african sun compels the artist to visualise the colours only in their most intense hues enticed by hatred for white intruders wild with rage the lebowans storm our camp an angel appears as we pray rescuing us from imminent peril adversity from those who avenge former wrongs committed by unsolicited leaders plundering pillaging and rape of a country harsh conditions weather economy and personal security the overwhelming desire to create magic led to the search of the mind for a paradise of escape from the harsh realities of the environment this is where the idea of murfic originated when the daughter was two years old and being potty trained the wife then at some point in the day checked if daughter required the potty but the latter showed no interest mother got suspicious and lifted up childs dress and saw that there were no panties enquiry was made as to the whereabouts of the aforementioned panties child responded by taking and leading mother by the hand out the house onto the lawn area at the rear of the house mother was led to the edge of the lawn and child pointed confidently to the horizon and said it has gone to Murfic returned from exile 1992 murfic a metaphor for the subconscious toilet roll core signature for paintings coreless toilet roll begs for a new lease of life rules put aside and roll was appeased roll consumed core destroyed with diaries but commemorated following the exile thus the status granted oils acrylics pen and ink watercolours stone clay concrete and welded steel artworks created from sketches spontaneously created in the numerous diaries over ten years authored book on paint making and gave lectures at fine arts department of UNISA in south africa materials used to make an artwork not less important than the idea conveyed by the artwork the should be responsible for the longevity of the artwork and should be held accountable if the artwork is created using inferior materials and subsequently deteriorates in such a way that the artwork no longer serves its original function