Artwork

Scrapyard

2019 Competition entry

Detail
Tags

Kay Fourie

Details:
Not Signed
Charcoal on Academia
117 x 155 cm
R13 800
Description:
The wind pump, the workhorse of farming in arid landscapes, is synonymous with the wind and its capriciousness. If the wind does not blow for days on end, the dams become dry and the farmers nervous. Wind pumps are landmarks and sometimes named. They often get bad reputations when they have repeated mechanical problems. The wind pump on our Karoo property is frequently called Bliksem van ’n pomp.

When I found a discarded pump head on the scrapyard, it struck a chord of sadness in me. It is dead, I thought, it blew it last breath. Breath is synonymous with wind, life-giving in dry environments. Breath is the wind that enters our bodies the moment we are born and the wind that leaves our bodies when we die. Breath/wind and spirit/soul are closely intertwined and reminds me of how fragile we are, how evanescent life is. Mortality is our shadow, and as we will too, this wind pump is disintegrating back into the earth.

Charcoal on paper seemed the most suitable medium for both drawings presented here, as dry paper is associated with fragility and charcoal can be linked to death in that it is made of burnt organic material. My specific choice of paper — Academia - reflects the Karoo land as it repels water while grabbing onto charcoal particles. Charcoal is the embodiment of fragility and life cycles: having been made from burnt organic material, most often wood, it evokes notions of humbleness, scarcity and earthiness.

Charcoal Academia

Blade

Detail
Tags

Kay Fourie

Details:
Not Signed
Charcoal on Academia
117 x 155 cm
R13 800

Description:
The wind pump, the workhorse of farming in arid landscapes, is synonymous with the wind and its capriciousness. If the wind does not blow for days on end, the dams become dry and the farmers nervous. Wind pumps are landmarks and sometimes named. They often get bad reputations when they have repeated mechanical problems. The wind pump on our Karoo property is frequently called Bliksem van ’n pomp.

When I found a discarded pump head on the scrapyard, it struck a chord of sadness in me. It is dead, I thought, it blew it last breath. Breath is synonymous with wind, life-giving in dry environments. Breath is the wind that enters our bodies the moment we are born and the wind that leaves our bodies when we die. Breath/wind and spirit/soul are closely intertwined and reminds me of how fragile we are, how evanescent life is. Mortality is our shadow, and as we will too, this wind pump is disintegrating back into the earth.

Charcoal on paper seemed the most suitable medium for both drawings presented here, as dry paper is associated with fragility and charcoal can be linked to death in that it is made of burnt organic material. My specific choice of paper — Academia - reflects the Karoo land as it repels water while grabbing onto charcoal particles. Charcoal is the embodiment of fragility and life cycles: having been made from burnt organic material, most often wood, it evokes notions of humbleness, scarcity and earthiness.

Charcoal Academia