Layers of Life

Helen Sebidi’s work explores layers – both literally and metaphorically. Her art resonates with a profound spirituality that reverberates through the physical layers of her work. Sebidi’s textured, stippled application of paint in rich hues of reds, blues, ochres, and purples, creates surfaces that seem to come alive with energy. Even in her more restrained compositions, where figures aren’t jostling for space, a dense vitality pulses through the overlapping angles and shifting faces. This dynamic interplay recalls African mythological fables and folklore, where stories and spirits intertwine to give life to the inanimate.

Sebidi’s approach to her art is deeply spiritual, a connection she describes as transcending thought: “I don’t use my brain, I am controlled by a spirit. When the picture is finished it will speak. It will come alive and there will be movement.” This sentiment breathes through her works, where fragmented faces and distorted forms explore dualities – good and evil, spiritual and earthly, rural and urban, and past and present. These juxtapositions reflect the artist’s acute awareness of the tension between the spiritual and the secular, often suggesting a deeper connection to African spirituality, while grounding her figures in the rituals of everyday existence.

This duality is at the heart of Sebidi’s work, where the secular and sacred converge. Lot 24, The Boys Return Home from Initiation, is a brilliant example of how in Sebidi’s hands, the canvas becomes a living, breathing entity. Her works are layered in every sense: physically, through her dynamic technique, and metaphorically, as explorations of identity, spirituality, and human experience.

Auction

20th Century & Contemporary Art

20 November 2024 at 7pm

Viewing:

13 - 20 November 2024
Monday – Friday: 8:30 am – 4:30pm

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Sarah Sinisi
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Amy Carrington
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