2009 - extinction
These hand painted, photocopy transfer mono prints, are the first in a set of three bodies of work that fall under the title ‘Extinction’, and are images based on the children’s nursery rhyme:
One for sorrow
Two for joy
Three for a girl
Four for a boy
Five for silver
Six for gold
And Seven for a secret never to be told.
The Indian Mynah bird, an invasive species that is now viewed as a pest, was probably originally brought to South Africa on trading ships. It is said to have escaped into the wild in 1902. In each print I have juxtaposed the image of this bird against the image of one of the three Chiefs, founding fathers of Contemporary Botswana. The resulting image is a comment on the strains between the indigenous and the exotic that result from migrations, voluntary or involuntary.
