Notes

In 1988 Diane Victor, a recent BA Fine Arts graduate from Wits, became the youngest recipient of the Volkskas Atelier Award (now the ABSA L’Atelier Award). She has continued to teach part-time as well as exhibits nationally and internationally. Her more recent work where she harnesses smoke on glass or paper continues to explore themes of human frailty and decay.
In the portfolio titled Birth of a Nation, Victor explores the history of colonial engagement in Africa and its continued imprint on contemporary African politics. This series appropriates classical myths and re-contextualises these Western narratives with African and South African themes and landscapes. For instance this work from the portfolio, The Rape of Africa, alludes to the story of the abduction of Europa. Victor has however replaced the white bull (Zeus) with a rhinoceros being controlled by a defiant huntress, thus morphing the story to address the ravaging of Africa’s natural resources.