Formation
2008 artSPACE durban, (2008)
Kotze partook in this exhibition as curator and exhibitor
Grace Kotze talks about her work on "formation"
"This series of works deals primarily with the state of isolation which is often only present when one is devoid of the emotional noise of others.
In order to explore this I find the images of travel very poignant. The emotions that one experiences when travelling draw many parallels to isolation. To an extent the process puts one into a situation of limbo, where one is uprooted and one functions in a state of transience. The only state is one of being, not belonging. During such times I often immerse myself into introspection and indulgent emotional daydreaming.
The figure paintings work on a similar level; images dominated by colour and tone which flood the works with an emotional tone rather than an analytical one. The anonymity of figures saturated by these emotive elements are devoid of the distraction of distinct features. As with the metaphors of travel, the figures are blanketed with an emotional introspection."
Bronwen Vaughan-Evans talks about Grace Kotze's work on the "formation" exhibition
"Grace Kotze's work hits us with a familiarity which has not quite yet become a memory but holds the foreboding of one. Her surfaces somehow record the process of remembering, both blurred and in sharp focus simultaneously. Her works convey an intimate personal response to neutral public spaces. These pieces are juxtaposed with flash frames from highly private spaces, the resulting emotional response being one of uncomfortable exposed fragility."
·Dee Donaldson talks about Grace Kotze's work on the "formation" exhibition
"Grace Kotze's attraction to light as an almost tangible element becomes more and more evident. Mark making and light fuse in many of the small works into a dream-like abstraction, hinting at the mundane through a visual veil. Roads travelled through the dark and through the rain... They reminded me of travelling at night as a child, lights forming shapes passing by through glass and half-sleep. Being removed consciously - being behind something, be that a camera or windscreen. They are beautifully rendered split second moments of light and movement. The sense of noticing something extraordinary in very ordinary moments, just before it's gone."
About the show as a collective
"The show attempts to give the spectator insights into the psyche of five painters and their thought process in producing a work of art. Included on the show are the painters, Dee Donaldson, Grace Kotze, Anet Norval and Janet Solomon.
The unique process during the fruition of a painting is often more intriguing and substantial than a finished piece of art. So much editing, judging and refining of ideas and images can produce a work eliminated of the guttural essence of the initial passion that prompted it's creation. The show attempts to present the information and workings that get pared away along the path towards refinement.
Text, photographic documentation, workbooks and sketches are some of the preliminary ideas that will be presented along with the finished paintings, thus enabling the viewer to connect to the workings behind the painting. The show, with its varied approaches and presentations, promises to be one of layered substance and complexity."
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