Artist Nicky Marais’ eighth solo exhibition is a site of temples, a place of gates and graves, witch marks and satellites.
All recurring and rendered in Marais’ symbolic style, in ‘Presence in Absence’, forms and shapes speak of emotion, of history and the impalpable in a rich and vital language all Marais’ own.
The latest in the artist’s “constant hunt for significant shapes” and influenced by the Namib’s ancient rock paintings and petroglyphs, the collection is singular not only in its vocabulary but also in its curation.
With circular drum lids repurposed as canvasses and positioned above and below the eye line, the exhibition catches and releases the viewer in a manner that is incredibly individual as one follows a train of colour, feeling or personal logic.
“The exhibition was curated by Helen Harris, Actofel Ilovu and I,” says Marais. “Actofel is a big collaborator of mine, he’s been assisting me in collecting the drum lids in dump sites and rubbish heaps for about a year and we just started arranging the pieces in groups quite organically.”
An ardent advocate for the use of found material which the head of the College of the Arts’ Visual Art department also encourages at the institution, Marais believes the use of such canvasses affords the artist something quite special.
“I loved working with the drum lids. They already contained so much history and character. They are things by themselves and it’s interesting to let the object speak for itself while also bringing out the things you wish to communicate.”
What is communicated is somewhat oblique.
A series of crosses connoting the many Namibian lives lost to war and genocide, witch marks as symbols of protection while the title speaks to the presence of Marais’ late mother Christine, also an artist, who she still feels in studio with her.
Though not a particularly spiritual person, Marais inclusion of gates, temples, witches and satellites alludes to some level of communication and acknowledgment of what the artist describes as the intangibles of life.
Inspired by texts, dreams and conversations and concerned with the relationships between people and their spirit worlds, ‘Presence in Absence’ is vivid in its exploration and assured with regard to execution.
Eight exhibitions under her belt but still in awe of the reality, asked what she feels now that the work is done and the door is open and her response is “satisfaction”.
“During every every single exhibition, when you’ve finished putting it up, perhaps even before the labels, there is this unbelievable feeling of achievement. That is the gift. You come to terms with everything you made. You put an end to that body work. It’s incredibly rewarding.
