THE RADAR ART
Clockwise from left: Northern Parula, 2008, oil on canvas; Nuthatches, 2008 (detail), oil on canvas. Isabelle du Toit.
BY STEVE CARTER
FLIGHT PLAN Isabelle du Toit’s beloved bird paintings are a tough sell—but not for lack of customers. She just hates to part with them When Dallas artist Isabelle du Toit lived in Grapevine not so long ago, one of her favorite birding pastimes was keeping an eye and ear out for the indigo buntings that flitted through the neighborhood. On insomniac nights, du Toit would listen for the nocturnally migratory birds, their navigating instincts attuned to the stars. Now settled in Dallas, it’s little wonder that the artist has a soft spot for the species, since her own migrations have been extensive: Born in France in 1972, moving to South Africa at 10, then back to France at 12, and back to South Africa at 16 where she remained until after university, and then on to Chicago, and ultimately to North Texas, which for her has the air of the exotic. “I’d never seen a hummingbird before I came here, and they’re just incredible,” she says in a musically accented English that’s as colorful as her passport. “I’ve fallen in love with birds in a really hard way, and my husband and I have become bird watchers. America is just full of birds, the most incredible amount of birds and wildlife; what’s strange is that here your wildlife is in your face, it’s in your garden each year. … In South Africa, you don’t see animals unless you go out of town to the parks.” With the spirit of a Saint Francis and an artistry that surpasses an Audubon, du Toit’s painted menagerie is a congress of wonders that quietly challenges her viewer to look—really look—and consider the beauty and fragility of nature that we tend to take for granted.
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Flight, du Toit’s second solo exhibition at Pan American Art Projects last spring, was all about birds. Although she also paints the inanimate— everything from acorns to banana peels, sugar bowls to cracked eggs—her interest in depicting the animal kingdom is vast: monkeys, insects, dogs, cats, frogs, butterflies and rabbits are just a few of her subjects. “With Flight we decided to have a very strong focus, and just go with the birds,” Pan American Director Cris Worley explains. “One of the things that’s so obvious about Isabelle’s work is the extraordinary attention to detail and her ability to render even the pin feathers of a baby bird, and all the color and the textures.” One thing that may not be so obvious about the work, however, is the artist’s subtle message on humanity’s relationship with the natural world. After absorbing the exquisite beauty of one of her subjects, such as the endangered South American golden lion tamarin monkey, the viewer will note the setting—an unobtrusive dark background sets off the creature’s portrait, highlighting its is-ness in a provocative spotlight. Where are the trees, the vines, the skies? By stripping away the comforts of the expected, du Toit rouses her audience to actually seeing—tweaking curiosity about the lives of the animals. “The biggest reason to place them outside of their environment is to make my point about man’s encroachment on their habitat,” the artist continues. “I’m showing them off, not having them blend continued... into the environment.”
...continued Surprisingly, du Toit came to the serious study of art fairly late in life. During her years in France, her only exposure to art was watching her grandmother paint on porcelain; du Toit’s parents weren’t museum-goers, and her father thought the pursuit of art frivolous. Isabelle’s fascination with her grandmother’s efforts led her to painting flowers at the side of her mentor; she recalls at age 6 showing off her efforts, eager for approval. Isabelle’s family, while not artistic, was animal-oriented, and frequent visits to South Africa’s big parks exposed her to a world of creatures. Back at home, the yard hosted a constantly streaming population of rabbits, cats, geese and chickens. Du Toit finally took her first real art classes when she began her studies at Port Elizabeth Technikon, now part of Nelson Mandela University. Even then, painting wasn’t her bailiwick; her pragmatic father insisted she major in printmaking since that expertise could lead to a career in illustration or graphic design. After graduation with a BFA in printmaking, and painting
“My visa didn’t allow me to work, so I couldn’t do anything,” Isabelle says, “and that’s the reason I started painting again. The transition from printmaking was huge, going from black and white to color, going from etching with the acids and metal plates; painting is a lot more peaceful. I was really teaching myself, because I didn’t get on with my painting lecturer at university.” Although she started with acrylics, du Toit soon moved to oil paint for its slower drying time. Isabelle paints on smooth canvases, the product of repeated applications of white gesso, sanding the surface between coats to
Mockingbirds (detail), 2008, oil on canvas.
Blue Jay, 2008, oil on canvas.
a minor, du Toit worked as a graphic designer for four years, before she and her husband, Emile, a systems analyst, decided to expand their boundaries. Curiosity led the couple to the States, and when they arrived in Chicago, they had only the clothes on their backs and two suitcases between them; Emile’s work eventually brought them to Texas.
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soften the “tooth” of the material. Next, she draws her composition and begins applying color using extremely fine spotter brushes with synthetic bristles, without an underpainting to establish a tonal palette. “That may be what makes them so vibrant,” she conjectures. “The white surface might make the paint shine more; there’s really no secret, except maybe I’m doing it Cardinal in Box, 2008, oil on canvas. wrong,” she adds with a laugh. A tireless researcher on the lives and habits of her subjects, establishing an understanding of her creatures is essential for du Toit. “I think it’s important to promote them, not just use them. I like buyers to take an interest in them, learn something, and have a conversation piece on the wall.” Du Toit’s abstracted backgrounds are also conversation starters; her fondness for trompe-l’oeil settings, the “trick of the eye” in this case being a perspectival illusionism, lends her work a non-regional sophistication. “I’m trying to take realism and twist something new out of it,” she admits. “I want an edge to my work, and I think I get that from it.” Until recently, du Toit signed all her paintings “Rouaud,” her grandmother’s maiden name, in a loving gesture of gratitude to her earliest role model. Often the artist bonds so completely with her subjects that it’s difficult for her to surrender custody once a painting is completed. “I have to pry these out of her hands most of the time,” Worley acknowledges. “She doesn’t want to let them go because she falls in love with the subject so deeply.” Du Toit adds, “Recently I let a painting go too soon, and it broke my heart. Unfortunately I don’t get enough time with them, and I’m very passionate about what I’m doing. I just want people to feel them like I feel them.” Isabelle Du Toit’s paintings are at Pan American Art Projects, 1615 Dragon St., 214.522.3303 or www.panamericanart.com.