BROKEN MONSTERS An exhibition of photomontages and paintings centred on Dystopia, the Climate Crises and the Posthuman Identity by
Laurette de Jager
Laurette de Jager Laurette de Jager holds a MA in Visual Arts (Unisa) (Cum Laude), ND in Jewellery Design & Manufacture (CPUT) and an NHD In Jewellery Design and Manufacture (CPUT). Laurette has achieved several awards during her career as a professional jewellery designer. She lives, works and teaches in the Northern suburbs of Cape Town. De Jager has participated in numerous group exhibitions, her work is represented in private collections in South Africa and abroad. The concept of making strange the familiar and familiar the strange is a leitmotif in Laurette’s work. While her style has been described as contemporary surrealism, her work focuses on looking beyond the discernible to that which functions as undercurrents for society. Her MVA exhibition, Poetry of Decay was exhibited at the art. B gallery (March 2019) and at Youngblood Africa (October 2019). Laurette made her curatorial debut with the exhibition and accompanying webinar titled Apart / A Part exhibited at art.b in November 2020.
Broken Monsters Dystopia, the Climate Crises, and the Posthuman Identity [T]he recognition that none of us are actually distinct from each other, or the world, will profoundly affect the way we treat each other, different species and the environment. To harm anything is to harm oneself (Pepperrell 2003:171)
Broken Monsters is a philosophical enquiry into the nature of the posthuman identity, and its role in the climate crises. My interest in the nature of the posthuman identity was sparked by research as part of my MA in Visual Arts. As Posthuman Identities, we are in a constant state of flux. We are evolving / becoming new beings. The process of our becoming necessitates a fracture (breaking up) in our identity. Simultaneously we are becoming increasingly more aware of the interconnectedness between beings, ecosystems and lifeforms. Living in the climate crises and being confronted with the reality of the 6th mass extinction event, has led to the realisation that humanity is The Monster threatening our planet. The archaic humanist mindset of Humanity as being superior to all other lifeforms, has led to the insatiable consumption of natural resources. The realisation that humanity is not the centre of the universe has led to an “identity crises” of sorts in the collective human mind. The visual enquiry into the nature of the posthuman identity and its place in the climate crises starts from a place of “now here”; using personal photographs of people and places that have meaning to me, I visually deconstruct my/our (humanist ) identity. By cutting these photographs into new shapes, assembling new scenes, I am constructing a new worldview. This new world will inevitably maintain some semblance of the old world. Therefore, certain elements of the “old” photographs will remain identifiable. The photomontages are reworked as somber large-scale paintings. This process is influenced by painters such as Eric Fischl, Neo Rauch and Matthew Hindley. The photomontage becomes the Utopian ideal, which is mirrored in the paintings depicting the Dystopian reality. The body of work is divided into 3 environments: Land, Forest and Ocean. Each section investigates the human influence on the specific biosphere. The character of the work in each environment pivot between whimsical, illustrative, and solemn, mirroring the changeability of the Posthuman identity. The objective of my work is to explore new ways of existing in a dying world.
L A N D
Not a drop to drink Starting from a point of “now here”; this series came to be after a visit to my father’s farm in the Northern Cape during December 2019. Feeling a deep connection to the landscape in this section of the Karoo, and having closely documented the flora, fauna and landscape over the past 13 years, I came to witness with my own eyes the devastating influence climate change have on not only our lives, but also the lives of the nonhuman animals and flora of the Northern Cape. There are large parts of the Northern Cape, a mere 60 – 80km from our farm, that hasn’t had rain in more than 8 years. There are 8-year-old children in the Sutherland district that have never seen rain 1(Davis 2020). The environmental palette contains only dull greys, browns and reds. (Davis 2020) By cutting up the photographs I have taken in December 2019 and merging them with earlier photographs taken of fauna and flora on the farm, I started to create a new reality. A reality that might reflect the possible future of man, animal and flora in this landscape, should the climate crises proceed along its current trajectory. By tracing the silhouettes of the small herds of Kudu, Eland and Giraffes, and filling them with earlier photographs of Karoo flora, I am creating a desperate cry for the time that has gone before. This may seem nostalgic to some, I disagree, I believe it to be despair, and desperation. The shadows cast by these small groups of animals are, ironically, cut out of either distorted images of their former selves, or photographs of dry mud and flora taken in December 2019. The message is simple: “If we don’t act, this is where they will end up; dried out dust and remains. 1
https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-01-22-in-drought-ravaged-northern-capegovernment
Memory of Water I Laurette de Jager, 2020. Photomontage, and beverages on Fabriano Artistico 300gsm, 60cm x 60cm framed
Memory of Water II Laurette de Jager, 2020. Oil on canvas, 100cm x 100cm unframed
Barkskins I Laurette de Jager, 2020. Photomontage, and beverages on Fabriano Artistico 300gsm, 60cm x 60cm framed
Barkskins II Laurette de Jager, 2020. Oil on canvas, 100cm x 100cm unframed
Gold Fame Citrus I Laurette de Jager, 2020. Photomontage, and beverages on Fabriano Artistico 300gsm, 60cm x 60cm framed
Gold Fame Citrus II Laurette de Jager, 2020. Oil on canvas, 100cm x 100cm unframed
F O R E S T
The Word for World is Forest The subtitle for this section, is borrowed from Ursula K Le Guin’s 1972 science fiction novel, which explores themes such as environmentalism, anti-colonialism and indigenous rights. The devastating fires in the Amazon rainforest during the second half of 2019, caused a resurgence of concern about deforestation and the role that forests in general play in protection against climate change1 (Spring 2019). As early as 2010, The melting icecaps of Mount Kilimanjaro, have been attributed to deforestation on the slopes of the mountain 2 (Rice 2010). This concept was investigated extensively and exceptionally in the work of Georgia Papageorge, Kilimanjaro southern glaciers (1996,2005,2006 2009). It is however Le Guin’s use of the forest as symbol for what makes us human, in this novel, that influenced my interest in this concept. Considering my personal, family history with forests, and the influence it wields on us, the forest has always served as a conduit for bringing us back in touch with the positive attributes of humanity. My grandfather used to farm in the Hoekwil district, as children a visit to his farm, meant spending time in nature, putting down roots in the forest. The forest calms, the forest brings peace, and tranquillity, it mends rough family bonds. The forest becomes a symbol for harmony, a conduit for man existing in harmony with nature. Starting from this personal connection to the forest, I used photographs taken on a family trip to the Tsitsikamma forest in 2016, printed on (natural) Hanemühle Paper and merge them with photographs taken of the small protected milkwood forest in Hermanus. Both spaces where we as a family spent time. Through the assembling of this reality, I create a utopian space where man is in harmony with nature. Man is still depicted as the artifice within the natural space; The human figures are printed on vinyl and superimposed three dimensionally on the natural environment, symbolising man’s artifice within nature. These photomontages will be revisited in large scale oil on canvas.
1
https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2019-07-04-brazil-to-act-on-deforestation-ifconcerns-confirmed-minister-says/
2
https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2010-09-28-revealed-the-real-cause-ofkilimanjaros-melting-ice-cap/
Woman on the Edge of Time I Laurette de Jager, 2020. Digital Photomontage, Giclee print on 310gsm HanemĂźhle Etching and vinyl, 64cm x 89cm, framed
Woman on the Edge of Time II Laurette de Jager, 2020. Oil on canvas, 120cm x 80cm, unframed
Herland I Laurette de Jager, 2020. Digital Photomontage, Giclee print on 310gsm HanemĂźhle Etching and vinyl, 64cm x 89cm, framed
Herland II Laurette de Jager, 2020. Oil on canvas, 120cm x 80cm, unframed
Walden I Laurette de Jager, 2020. Digital Photomontage, Giclee print on 310gsm HanemĂźhle Etching and vinyl, 64cm x 89cm, framed
Walden II Laurette de Jager, 2020. Oil on canvas, 120cm x 80cm, unframed
O C E A N
All Stories Originate from the Ocean This series came into being, during a visit to the oceanside town of Hermanus with my children in September 2019. Over the past 3 decades I have documented the oceanic life of this specific stretch of ocean, and my family’s influence on it, many times over. Watching my children frolic in the waves, I realised that they were oblivious to the pivotal role the oceans play in keeping our planet at a liveable temperature 1 (Bloom 2018). Similarly, humanity are mere children playing around in our environment, oblivious to the influence we have on it. It is only by becoming one with the macrocosm, that we will restore balance. The realisation dawned on me that we are living our lives as though we are in a sci-fi novel. The character of these works is simultaneously whimsical yet threatening. Alien yet familiar. The creative process will follow the same conceptual trajectory as the preceding series; photomontage created from decades of photographs taken at the ocean, photographs of both beloved offspring as well as oceanic creatures, placed in the same environment, in harmony with each other, yet quite alien in appearance. Working with photographs taken of this oceanic environment over many decades I set about creating an alternate reality. Here the works take on a surrealist even magic realist character. The natural inhabitants of the ocean, morph into alien warships poised to intervene. The only trace of humanity is the human hybrids emerging from the ocean, they inhabit a dual space, they are us / and not us. Childlike figures comprising of Jellyfish flesh, finally the biomimicry denotes man being at one with nature As with the previous series, these photomontages will be revisited in oil paintings. The objective of the painted works, if to portray a world in harmony, less sombre, more light. A future hoped for. https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2018-11-20-true-oceans-how-warming-waters-create-a-fiery-feedback-loop/
1
The Day the Earth Stood Still I Laurette de Jager, 2020. Photomontage on Fabriano Artistico 300gsm, 60cm in diameter, framed
The Day the Earth Stood Still II Laurette de Jager, 2020. Oil on canvas, 60cm in diameter, unframed
After Earth I Laurette de Jager, 2020. Photomontage on Fabriano Artistico 300gsm, 60cm in diameter, framed
After Earth II Laurette de Jager, 2020. Oil on canvas, 60cm in diameter, unframed
The Boy with All the Gifts I Laurette de Jager, 2020. Photomontage on Fabriano Artistico 300gsm, 60cm in diameter, framed
The Boy with All the Gifts II Laurette de Jager, 2020. Oil on canvas, 60cm in diameter, unframed
CV EDUCATION 1993 Matriculated DF Malan High School, Bellville. 1996 ND Jewellery Design & Manufacture, Cape Technikon (CPUT) 1997 NHD Jewellery Design & Manufacture Cape Technikon (CPUT) 2020 MVA University of South Africa Cum Laude EMPLOYMENT 1997-1998
Jewellery designer, SA Link, Cape Town.
1998 – 2000
Jewellery designer, Visconti & Co, Cape Town.
2001 – 2005
Principal, Jewellery designer, Visconti & Co, Cape Town
2020
Committee Member Arts Association of Bellville
EXTERNAL EXAMINER DUTIES External moderator NHD Jewellery Design & Manufacture Cape Technikon
2000
AWARDS 2nd Place in the Designer category of Jewellex Collection awards
1998
2nd Place in the Professional category of Jewellex Collection awards
2000
2nd Place in the American Swiss Jewellery Designer of the year 97/98
1998
Superiority in Jewellery Design in the Professional Designer category Jewellex
2000
Top 200 Finalist Sanlam Portrait Competition at Rust en Vrede gallery
2015
Three Highly commendable awards SASA Selection Weekend 2016
2016
Finalist Vuleka Art Competition hosted by Art.b gallery Top Ten Finalist State of the Art Competition
2015/16/18 2019
GROUP EXHIBITIONS: Art.b gallery – Vuleka 2015 competition finalist
August / September 2015
Art.b gallery – Greg Kerr student exhibition – Curated by Gregory Kerr Art. B gallery – A3 Format exhibition
September / October 2015
October /November 2015
SASA Members 1 exhibition 2016
May 2016
Art.b gallery – Vuleka 2016 competition finalist
August / September 2016
SASA Members 2 exhibition 2016
September 2016
SASA 109th Annual exhibition 2016
October 2016
SASA Merit exhibition 2017
January 2017
The Goldsmiths’ Gallery - Steampunk Trouvé
November 2017
Art.b gallery – Vuleka 2018 competition finalist
August / September 2018
Art.b gallery – Poetry of Decay MVA Exhibition
March 2019
State of the Art Gallery - Award Finalists Exhibition
September 2019
Youngblood Africa – Poetry of Decay
October 2019
Youngblood Africa - Broken Monsters
February 2021
CURATORIAL: Apart / A Part – a group exhibition exploring the human condition under social distancing at art.b gallery
November 2020
Catalogue Available [online] https://issuu.com/laurette_de_jager/docs/apart_a_part_art.b_2020_catalogue_issuu.pptx MEDIA AND PRESS: Apart / A Part Webinar – a discussion on the exhibition Available [online] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JgsqJ9KzlU
November 2020
Laurette de Jager 084 240 0086 laurettedejager@gmail.com
https://laurettedejagerart.weebly.com/ https://www.instagram.com/laurette.dejager.artist/ https://www.facebook.com/laurettedejagerartist/ Installation Photographs by Magriet Theron