A few years ago now, I stumbled upon the work of local artist Adele van Heerden. Her 2018 collection, In Memoriam, has and will continue to remain ingrained in my soul (as all great art should).
I’ve always practised drawing. I took visual art as a subject in high school, and so my love and appreciation for the creative world runs deep.
Appreciation and feeling, however, are two separate notions. Encountering Van Heerden’s work was the first experience I had where I was completely overcome by the subject matter, raw beauty, and skill of an artist.
Enhanced by my first dabbling into gallery viewing and Cape Town city energy, this interaction between art, physical environment, electric atmosphere, and whisky made for my very own Memoriam.
My favourite piece, Zeitgeist, weaves together ink, charcoal, gouache, and pencil on tracing paper. Its striking use of colour draws the eyes in, tricking the mind into thinking you’re looking at something “pretty”.
Van Heerden’s work is anything but “pretty”. Beyond my initial impression, I found a depth, both in subject matter and execution – a multifarious explosion of the natural and unnatural, the past and the present, beauty and horror.
Her subject matter pulls together an urban and natural experience, brilliantly curated into visual harmony. Never have I seen juxtaposition so seamlessly blended.
Zeitgeist is alive. It moves and creates movement – the same thing never seen twice. It offers lungs full of fresh air and lungs full of smoke. It represents both life-giving and life snatched away.
Like a first love, my encounter with Van Heerden’s work was unexpected and incautious – a pounding reintroduction to art that shattered everything I thought I understood from a textbook.
#ROBYNINTHEHOOD
View this post on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
Image: Supplied