Karoo-North Facing • Oil On Canvas • 110 x 139cm
For someone who has spent most of her life on the sub-tropical Eastern side of South Africa, suddenly landing in the vast and arid Northern Cape is a riveting experience. A trip to the Tankwa Karoo inspired this work. I couldn't help feeling as if I couldn't quite touch the ground, that I was drifting above this beautifully patterned landscape. Life on this land is difficult- for plants, animals and people. The plants survive by perfectly positioning themselves. Some like the hot slopes and others, the cooler South-Facing slopes. Some only survive in the shadows of other plants. I found myself walking through the landscape with a sense of discovery similar to collecting shells on a beach. Each plant, hunkered down expecting the worst, is like a miracle in itself. It is highly unlikely that you will bump into any people either!