This article was previously published in Issue 19, ABSENCE (December 2018). On the 27th May at about 8pm, I stood trembling before my bedroom mirror and cut off seven inches of my hair with kitchen scissors. My head now 80 grams lighter, I held the two short fat plaits, which sat soft and somehow fishlike in my still shaking hands. The act of slicing had been impulsively destructive, but it was ultimately an act of liberation. Something was released, and I sprang up and out f

This article was previously published in Issue 19, ABSENCE (December 2018). One of South Africa’s earliest new media artists, Jenna Burchell scorns the rigidity of artistic disciplines and transitions from performance art to sculpture with fluidity. For ‘Songsmith,’ Burchell mends broken pieces of rocks through the Japanese technique of kintsukuroi. As the viewer draws her hand close to a Songsmith, it senses her presence and begins to hum. Burchell is concerned with memory.

This article was previously published in Issue 19, ABSENCE (December 2018). The idea that only weaving and ceramics art is suitable for women would not stand today, yet this was a belief that held true at the Bauhaus school, known for its radical, modernist design. To Walter Gropius, founder of the school in 1919, there was ‘no difference between the beautiful sex and the strong sex’, except for the fact that the former could only think in two-dimensions; whilst the latter wa

This article was previously published in Issue 19, ABSENCE (December 2018). Few things are more frustrating than the unidentifiable subject, especially for those of us trained to analyze and categorize the images we see. What is to be done with an image that resists categorization and displays a complete absence of identity? Giulio Campagnola’s Reclining Woman, c. 1510-1515 is one such example of a piece that has successfully evaded the epistemological grasp of art historians

In Venice, there are only one or two paintings by Canaletto (1697-1768), nearly everything he produced is to be found in Britain, thanks to Consul Joseph Smith (1674-1770). A wealthy trader but also art collector, Smith lived for seventy of his ninety-six years in Venice, most of them in the Palazzo Mangilli-Valmarana. Over those seven decades, he gathered together various collections of paintings, sculptures, manuscripts, and jewels. These collections were sold to King Georg

Venice is loved for its state of historic perfection. The city remains largely unchanged due to its floating urban structure, which is not as easily transformed as that of other cities. Skyscrapers just wouldn’t hold up on water. And yet, our modern age seems to have found a substitute. Floating Venice has gained its own form of skyscraper: the cruise ship. Cruise Ship in Venice (Image: World Monument Fund) These enormous ships glide with monstrosity across the Grand Canal, a

Venice – a city which is inescapably connected to the modern world, but could never truly belong. During the nineteenth century, Venice’s narrow streets, intertwining canals and art-historical monuments became threatened by Modernism. Numerous individuals aimed to gradually replace Venice’s stunning architecture with industrial structures to create a futuristic city. John Ruskin emphasized the importance of conserving the city’s architecture and protecting the landscape from

Martin Yeoman (https://www.martinyeomanartist.com) is a British painter, draughtsman, etcher and sculptor who has works in many collections, including those of The Royal Collection, British Museum and The National Trust. His works are also in many notable private collections, including the personal collection of HRH The Prince of Wales. My conversation with Martin, starting with his journey prior to the Royal Academy Schools, follows his career: looking to the past, but also