An exhibition of acrylic and oil paintings
by
Elzabe Malan and Kobus Rossouw
titled
Glitches, set in stone
In this collection of paintings, Elzabe and Kobus explore the dialogue between glitches: temporary malfunctions or mistakes and the permanence of stones: hard, solid, non-metallic minerals. Glitches are unintentional events while decisions or ideas set in stone represent deliberate actions. Yet, sometimes, ephemeral glitches shape our lives into permanent courses of action – glitches, set in stone.
Kobus’ paintings explore how we perceive the world. Often our decisions are based on glitches – things we think we remember, and perceptions or attitudes influenced by others. We often experience fleeting mental glitches in our memories such as déjà vu, having something on the tip-of-the-tongue, flashbulb memories, distressing flashbacks of traumatic experiences, or nostalgic reveries where sentimental thoughts take us back to better times. We often have mind-melds when we feel a connection to certain people and start to think, believe and behave like them. Memories can be manufactured or planted, and these can feel just as strong or be recalled just as badly as real memories. The chameleon effect is a physical glitch that can cause us to mimic others through copying body language, yawning when someone else yawns or contagiously smile or laugh when others do. Other glitches in our lives may include acts such as misunderstandings, jealousy or rumination.
Elzabe came across a collection of stones that contemporary sculptor, Angus Taylor, was working on. The absolute beauty of the raw materials and the seamless creation of the artwork mesmerised her. All five stones now have pride of place at the entry to her home and each time she views them she sees something different. The feelings these beautiful works evoke made her wonder if she could capture how she sees them and so her recent series of works SET IN STONE developed. Her paintings explore the permanence of the stones and yet how her perception of them change every time she looks at them. Each stone is distinct and unique, but together they contain the stories from their past to now. Millions of years contained in a still form
Sunday 9 October 2022 – 3 November 2022