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Pusillanimous (I), 2009, Paper, fabric, charcoal
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Cellular Memory, 2010, Paper, bamboo, jute
Anja Marais examines the fragility of life and identity by creating biospheric content of animistic and mythological narrative. Playing with contradictions, cyclical and linear elements she explores the truth about isolated and lost identities specific that of the white African.
After graduating from the University of South Africa, Marais immigrated to the United States where her work has been included in numerous solo and group exhibitions nationally, and held residencies like Mino Art in Japan. She has also been a recipient of the Florida Individual Artist Grant 2010 and has been in publications like the Florida International Magazine, Art in America and Artnews. Marais works and resides in South Florida.
My work uses multiple layers of recycled paper, charcoal drawings and textiles to form soft sculpture, consciously breaking away from the hard materials of traditional sculpture. I deliberately reject masculine materials and shapes for feminine ones and I obtain this by hand stitching my sculptures together with a needle and thread. This delicate, accessible medium and technique gives me the opportunity to reflect on our precarious relationship with our surroundings and the fragility of life and its future. I am investigating society’s ever growing isolation and detachment from nature and by morphing man into paper I try to minimize this displacement. Essentially paper is derived from trees and are used mainly for communication, for me it is a forged bridge between man and nature. Just like the animistic elements of the world’s ancient mythologies of mysterious deities and gods that took on the form of fauna and flora, I attempt to do the same with my paper characters. By using haunting animistic images from folklore I rely on invoking the viewer’s ancient desire to reunite with an estranged nature.
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Ex Unitate Vires, 2009, Paper and found objects
Comments (1)
chafaa
Victor
Victor
Gordon
Mark
STEVENSON
Pauline
Anja
hello
NICE TO MEET YOU
My Name is MARIAM THOMAS
I am a female, i saw your profile at (www.creativeafricanetwork.com)
I will like to established a relationship with
you. Please kindly Reply me through
my email adress (mariamthomas82@yahoo.com)
for more introduction and picture.
Yours friend
MARIAM.