Notes

Bloodroots I (Lament), the first etching in the series, introduces a very new symbol and hence conceptual iconographic layer to my work: the Shakespearian or Medieval ruff collar. For me personally, the use of the ruff in my work is contextually a double-edged sword. It is not only a symbol for privilege, affluence and greed (the oppressor/coloniser) but also one of subordination, the loss of freedom, independence and self-determination (the oppressed/colonised).

I usually try to avoid any literal explanations for my work and will hence rather propose a few salient questions to the viewer: Is the main figure in the work dead or simply asleep? What might the significance of the three birds be? Why is the boy in the background urging the viewer to be quiet? What is the significance of the tattoo on the body of the main subject in the work?

By posing these questions I aim to provoke musings about the quote from Sartre’s Colonialism and Neocolonialism underneath:

“Nothing is more consistent among us than racist humanism, since Europeans have only be able to make themselves human beings by creating slaves and monsters”.

Cité Experience

I am undoubtedly one of the artists who has benefitted the most from a total of 10 artist's residencies (AIR's) at the Cité des Arts since 1994. When putting all these AIR's together, I have lived and worked in Paris for a total of nearly two years of my life. Paris soon became my most loved city in Europe. My AIR's have also allowed me to travel extensively in Europe, especially for short visits to other European countries. London and especially Venice (for the Venice Biennial) became firm favourites. Not only did many new works see the light in the City of Light, but I have also forged lifelong friendships and exhibited my work in Paris over the years. During my first few visits I became close to Mme Simone Brunau, wife of the founder of the Cité, Monsieur Felix Brunau. At the end of my first AIR in 1994, I mounted a solo exhibition in the Salle Edouard Sandoz, the gallery at the Cité des Arts at the time. My most recent exhibition during a two-month sojourn at the Cité des Arts (October and November last year in 2021) allowed me to show work on an exhibition entitled Planet Platforme Earth at Gallery 193 close to the Bastille. The exhibition was organised and curated by Judy Holm, the founder of The Global Arts Awards. At this event, we exhibited as Vortex, a collaboration with my friend and fellow artist Shui-Lyn White, who was also my guest at the Cité des Arts for the two months. It is impossible for any serious artist not to benefit from a residency at the Cité Internationale des Arts. To live and work in an exciting city such as Paris is, in itself, a massive privilege.