Artist Research: Penny Siopis, ‘Warm Water Imaginaries’ and Abstraction
Penny Siopis is an multi-medium artist of Greek descent born and working in South Africa, representing issues ranging from the traumas of children in South Africa to global, political issues. She has worked with a range of mediums, from photography and films to paintings, but I am focusing on her painting series and her techniques, specifically her abstraction and fluid art.
For a long time, Siopis worked with concepts that were ‘beyond representation’ (South African History Organisation, n.d.)– personal representation, psychology, trauma and such– and integrating dynamic materials into her works as if to show the organic nature of such psychological issues. This may be especially due to her life in South Africa which had and still has several social issues, one of which being ‘Apartheid’ which is a type of racial segregation that happened in South Africa to South West Africa during 1948 to 1994 due to the all-white government. She specifically mentions this issue on an interview with CNN Style (Cairns, 2021), stating that people were afraid of change during the apartheid but she wanted to show that we can all change. While she now also works with global issues, she still continues on to talk about the issues of South Africa.
Warm Waters [11], 2018-19
Her technique of creating such fluid and dynamic marks in her works is through glue, ink and oil. It is a similar technique in doing acrylic fluid art, where acrylic paints are mixed to a medium which thins down the paint to create a similar liquid texture. However, what makes ink unique in this case is that it can be used to stain parts of the work and create the natural blooming effects of ink. This technique is dominant through her series on ‘Warm Water Imaginaries’.
Moving on to the work itself; her works are very ominous and striking despite it having no defined object or person. As the title says, a viewer will be able to identify that there is a problem with the water due to the colours used on a watery texture, and the formation of two human-shaped figures and the white flames behind them is an indirect warning told to the viewers of the current state of Earth. By not giving it a proper structure, Siopis questions the viewers on how we see global warming: as ‘burning, drowning or absolute alterity’ (Moloi, 2019).
In this series, the consistency of inconsistency shows the different perspectives and perceptions of different people in a dynamic medium. She is relying on the effects of nature to create an impactful but fluid work, which I believe is the core element I should utilise in mixing the topics of my topics, of nature and Buddhism which flows and ebbs in a gentle but impactful way. As such, identifying and utilising her techniques may be critical in integrating my topics in a natural and pleasing way.
Warm Waters, 2018-19
References:
Cairns, R. (2021) How South African artist Penny Siopis is exploring 'shame', CNN. Cable News Network. Available at: https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/penny-siopis-south-africa-artist-shame-revisited-spc-intl-hnk/index.html (Accessed: 14 February 2023).
Elizabeth, M. (2021) Penny Siopis' solo 'Warm water imaginaries' addresses climactic change, Bubblegum Club. Available at: https://bubblegumclub.co.za/art/penny-siopis-solo-warm-water-imaginaries-addresses-climactic-change/ (Accessed: 16 February 2023).
Gqola, P. (2021) Penny Siopis on confronting shame, New Frame. Available at: https://www.newframe.com/penny-siopis-on-confronting-shame/ (Accessed: 14 February 2023).
Moloi, N. (2019) Penny Siopis creates union of form, texture and colour to reflect on climate change, Artskop. Available at: https://www.artskop.com/artmedia/en/a-union-of-form-texture-and-colour-reflects-on-climate-change-penny-siopis/ (Accessed: 14 February 2023).
Siopis, P. (2018-19) Warm Waters [11] [Online Image] Available at: https://www.stevenson.info/exhibition/3917/work/102 (Accessed: 15 February 2023)
Siopis, P. (2018-19) Warm Waters [Online Image] Available at: https://www.stevenson.info/exhibition/3917/work/8 (Accessed: 15 February 2023)
Penny Siopis (no date) Artsy. Available at: https://www.artsy.net/artist/penny-siopis (Accessed: 14 February 2023).
Penny Siopis (no date) The Artists' Press. Available at: https://www.artprintsa.com/penny-siopis.html (Accessed: 14 February 2023).
Penny Siopis (no date) South African History Online. Available at: https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/penny-siopis (Accessed: 14 February 2023).
Good post, well done, some really interesting and thoughtful insights into Siopis's work, particularly how she uses her materials. The tutorial the other day was good and think identified how you can go towards the finish of this project well. Look forward to seeing what you make of this over the next few weeks.
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