chimaera

Chimaera is a word with many meanings. In mythology, it is a fire-breathing monster with a lion’s head, a goat’s body, and a serpent’s tail. In biology, it is an organism that contains a mix of genetically different tissues. In prose, it is thing that is hoped for but is illusory.

This body of work is a compelling depiction of art as an unfolding story, shaped by the artist’s experience of significant events that have left an indelible mark on her life and on society. A flood. A pandemic.

Precious books that were damaged and permanently altered during a devastating flood became art material and provided the backdrop for many of the pieces. The artist found that cutting and tearing these books to serve another purpose moved her. The process of tearing seemed akin to drawing, which begins with scratching a surface with lines to create shape and form. While the books had lost their conventional purpose, they were transmuted into another meaningful object.

Stifled by the lockdowns brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, the omnipresence of the internet greatly influenced the artist’s visual experience through an array of current events, documentaries, pop culture, and social media. Nevertheless, while Instagram filters, digital displays, and the like inspired the colour palette; the artist pays homage to the power of nature that, not only devastates through floods, but also inspires the artist to break free and take flight – just as the birds that beckoned at her window.

Chimaera revels in the multiplicity of meaning in art from the moment of its creation to the moment it is perceived by its audience. It is a moving feast of colour, rich texture, and layers of meaning that is embedded, yet shifts in context. Images are torn and distorted but are reconfigured and reborn in another context. Chimaera screams against the seeming randomness of experience and celebrates humanity’s ability to change, adapt, and be whole.