Title: Land & Belonging
Medium: Strung glass beads
Date: 2010
Unframed: 100cm x 100cm
Framed: 116.5cm x 116.5cm
“My work is commentating on society, it is about identity – where do I come from because I am white? But I am an African. So it deals with universal issues. The inspiration comes from a country that is very fucked up, because the morality of the country is weird. So my work deals with that, but I also like to have fun, so some of the work has a sense of humor sometimes, sometimes not” – Wayne Barker, 2004 (SMAC 2010:18).
In the bead paintings, Barker draws on local craft and materials to invent his own language of critique and celebration. The artwork is seemingly flat and painterly, but also have a three-dimensional quality because of the medium being strung glass beads. In South Africa beads historically were used as love letters made to adorn their loved ones. It has also been important during ceremonies and viewed as a “traditional” or “native” craft. The artwork was collaboratively made with a group of craft women that transformed his image to a beaded work.
According to Carol Brown (SMAC 2010:85) “The final work presents an image of our country that is a far cry from the monolithic view of South Africa envisioned by Pierneef. Barker is suggesting a new vision – one of collaboration and the use of various technologies, but where the past is always with us and unable to be erased for its traces – in trivialities and small details, in found objects and expropriated traditions – can always be found.”
