16.09 – 10.10.2015
A solo exhibition of recent paintings by Kirsten Beets.
“The starting point for Everyday Eden was the word ‘Jungle’ which led to an exploration of the ‘Urban Jungle’. I wanted to investigate the space that I inhabited, namely Cape Town. It is a city in which I live and work and it became a challenge to draw inspiration from the overly familiar sights and sounds. This forced me to look deeper at my surroundings and since Nature and the natural world has always been an inspiration, I started to wonder if there was any wilderness hiding among the everyday. Slowly I began to take note of the in-between spaces. For the first time I observed the exotic palm tree with a cityscape peeking out behind it. Everyday scenes of nature previously overlooked, uncelebrated yet beautiful in their own way. In my paintings I have tried to convey the feeling of these places, a kind of strangeness within a familiar environment. For me these spaces represent Edens or little islands of lost paradise complete with their own fauna and flora. Not all the works are from Cape Town, some were inspired by travels. In each I tried to celebrate the Everyday Edens I found along the way.”
INSTALLATION VIEWS:
ARTWORKS:
Links related to this exhibit:
10 AND 5
http://10and5.com/2015/09/15/searching-for-lost-paradise-everyday-eden-by-kirsten-beets
VISI
http://www.visi.co.za/lifestyle/artists-we-love-kirsten-beets/