Babalwa Tom, Blossom, 2018
Project
description
Amy Simons
WOMXN Underground is a two womxn show featuring self-taught South African artists Babalwa Tom and Amy Simons. The title refers to the ways in which these two individuals have worked thus far in their careers: each has managed to teach, learn and grow as an artist and exhibit outside of the often challenging, competitive and somewhat exclusionary South African art scene. The exhibition is twofold: to show the creative womxn scene and to give voice to those who are constantly pushed under by toxic masculinity. This includes the private and public conception of what the womxn must do and be. Using the term womxn is deliberate as this is how these individuals identify. It also points to the notion of being ‘other’ and working outside of conventional structures. Both artists’ works focus on the healing power of art; their works are therapeutic and reflective and offer ways to think through issues plaguing womxn (and others on the margins of society). Some of the themes explored include healing from past trauma, sexuality, body as a site of empowerment, the fragile nature of ourselves as human beings, and the contemplation of ourselves in nature and our place in this fragile ecosystem. The exhibition aims to demonstrate that there is an alternative art scene, occupied by talented womxn artists, who are working on the fringe to achieve their goals and who are challenging the norms in our society.
Amy Simons, Falling, 2019
Amy Simons
Amy Simons presents a combination of new and older works that showcase her developing technique. Working primarily with watercolour, Amy’s works deal with issues of the female form and the body as a sight of trauma and healing. A self-taught artist and art therapy teacher, Amy’s chosen medium embodies the fragile, yet resilient female body and psyche through her painterly technique. Each painting demonstrates the calmness found within the myriad difficulties faced by womxn in this country and globally. Her artworks are a meditation on the issues we must deal with including sexuality, loss and love.
Babalwa Tom, TryAngles, 2018
Babalwa Tom
Babalwa Tom is a multidisciplinary artist who will present a series of digital prints and a short film titled Wather Water. In her work as filmmaker, Babalwa explores the ways in which forms are visualised and conceived of. For the film Wather Water, featuring the performance artist Marion Versitile, we delve into the water (literally – the film is shot underwater) to witness how the body moves. In her signature kaleidoscopic style, and a with a voice over by Duduma and music by Kechou, the film explores the feminine and masculine of the artist and the connection between the self and water. The digital prints from the series NaturaJuxa explores the connection between living plants and our place within the natural ecosystem. The work is a comment on our dependency and connection to the natural environment.
Amy Simons, Momma, this time could you teach me to give birth to myself, 2018
Carlyn Strydom
Carlyn Strydom is a researcher and curator with an interest in South African history and heritage particularly as it relates to slavery and the effects of that system on contemporary society. Her research extends to the role of museums in society and the nature of contemporary African art. She holds a B.A in English and Media Studies, a B.A Honours in Curatorship and an MPhil in Heritage and Public Culture. She currently works as an independent curator in South Africa, and is the founder of Museum Her, an online platform for art and culture in Africa.
