Barbara Wildenboer
A conceptualist artist using various photographic processes and techniques bringing across ideas of memory held and lost and the imprint of fleeting life recorded. Most of her works are combinations of mixed media with photography. She explores underlying notions of time and the paradoxical relationship between past and present states of being.
Recently, her focus shifted to paper cutting and altered books. Through the process of altering books, she emphasizes our understanding of the abstract terms of science through metaphor, and the assumed authority of text.
Barbara completed a BA (Ed) with majors in English literature, Psychology and Pedagogics at the University of Pretoria in 1996. In 2003 she obtained a Bachelor of Visual Arts from UNISA followed by a Masters in Fine Art (with distinction) from the Michaelis School of Art at the University of Cape Town in 2007.
These circular collage works were influenced by a visit to the Museo del Prado in Madrid a few years ago. It is there that I saw Hieronymous Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights in 'flesh' for the first time. The work of Bosch has always held great fascination for me. Another influence was the Rorschach inkblot tests developed by the Swiss psychologist Hermann Rorschach. In Jungian psycho-analysis a lot of emphasis is placed on the role of mythology, archetypes and our dreams in coming closer to get insight into the human psyche. Sirens and Harpies could be seen as a contemporary Rorshach that makes a playful reference to the field of eco-psychology and the relationship between humans and nature.
Sirens and Harpies I, Re-photographed analogue collage, 500mm diameter
Sirens and Harpies III, Re-photographed analogue collage, 500mm diameter