Strong social commentary is displayed in the striking mixed media drawing entitled “We are responsible for the image, for Ophelia, Reeva, Jade and Ayanda” that led to Sandy Little (29) receiving a Merit Award at the 2016 Phatshoane Henney New Breed Art Competition.
Although Little has a BA Fine Arts degree from the University of the Free State, and is now the drawing, art history and graphic interpretation lecturer at the Motheo TVET College in Bloemfontein, she regards herself as a musician first (she’s a member of local music group Wolfgang Marrow). She reveals that it is, in fact, through the music she is working on at the time that she is then inspired to create her art.
Little explains how her winning New Breed Art Competition entry germinated in the death of Reeva Steenkamp. “I was horrified that it was turned into a reality show on DSTV channel 199. You could actually watch the horror unfolding, among others by seeing grotesque photographs of Reeva’s wounds – like red roses bursting from her young head. There is something about a young beautiful woman being murdered which has always gripped people and sold many a paper, as if we can’t believe that someone so beautiful could ever be damaged. This in fact reflects our own biased opinions of women and highlights the fact that we only really care when the victim’s beautiful.”
This led to Little questioning many related themes, and she found herself shocked by the neglect of women of colour in the same circumstances. “We recall the news articles on Jayde Panayiotou, but saw no big coverage of Ayanda Zwane who was brutally murdered by her boyfriend. Therefore in the artwork’s title I list the women in order of social standing, making reference to our responsibility to all of them.”
In a sense the work is also a message to what Little calls “keyboard warriors who feel so safe behind their PCs and tablets.” She calls them to responsibility for what they share on Facebook and Twitter, for example graphic content of animal abuse and child neglect and the lewd comments posted on news articles. “We can no longer just say what we want without taking into account who it may damage or hurt. We need to become aware of the message we send young ladies when we share diet tips or “ten tips to keeping a man happy” on Facebook, just as we must be aware of the pressures we place on young men to validate their masculinity via objectifying women.”
Click here to visit her full profile and for more information on her winning entry.