Notes

"The process of making Barker’s beaded works is itself a complex one. Barker begins by photographing female models in his studio. Recently his models have largely been women from other African countries, many – if not all – of whom are refugees from their countries of origin. The second stage of the work involves constructing a painting from the original photograph; this painting is then deconstructed using computer generated marks and images. The mechanical art of taking a photograph is transformed through the artisanal craft of the painting, and then again transformed into a machine printed image. This image becomes the template for the beading. This template is then taken to the beaders’ studio – a triple volume building in downtown Cape Town close to Barker’s studio in Observatory, where there is a hive of creativity and energy. They painstakingly glue strung glass beads onto each work taking several months to fully complete the patterns". ¹

1. Carol Brown (2010) Threading Through History in Wayne Barker: Super Boring, Stellenbosch, SMAC.

Exhibited