African mask: gunnera

75 x 75 x 14 cm | Aluminium, Cotton & ink | 2020 | Edition of 33

This anamorphic work is inspired by the colour palette of beautiful Gunnera leaf I photographed in the summer of 2020.

I was just inspired by the colour palette that nature can create, and did two works in this series.  The essence of this series is the concept that colour palattes are coded deep into the DNA of all things. Each of these palettes has evolved over billions of years to reach its current state of strategic perfection. 

I grew up in South Africa and have been heavily influenced by the deep history of African Masks.  This work applies a brutally mathematical look at one of the the core concept behind African Masks. The listening ancestors.

The origins of Anamorphosis are obscure but Niceron and DuBreuil first discuss the concept in writings dating back to the 1600s.