Posted on Thursday 5-7-2007
tiw ps Stella Rosa, Incantation
Studio Conversation with Jill Trappler
By Tambudzai La Verne Sibanda
Jill Trappler arrives on the scene very much a textile artist. With a large body of work ranging from paintings to structural forms, her style is strongly couched in a tradition of weaving, a practice that has been well cultivated over generations in West Africa, Europe and
The exhibition promises to provide a comprehensive albeit non chronological record of the transformation and metamorphis of Jill Trappler’s work over two decades. An unapologetic colorist, Jill Trappler has used paint over the years in an unadulterated format to build texture and convey various emotions that have characterised her own life experiences. Her visual poems do not follow a linear artistic trajectory, and to simply claim that the movement of her work over the years displays a greater level of maturity, would be to negate the wealth of her earlier experiences with abstraction. Perhaps it would be more correct to say that Jill’s work has always been mature in its attempt to explore new possibilities, new techniques and pigments. The artist’s shift in sensibilities from a strong use of abstraction as an emerging artist, to greater use of the figure as a reference in her mature years, has given her work great range. Throughout her interrogations of complex matters of loss and memory to more simple explorations of the texture and colour of cultural rituals and mundane objects Jill Trappler’s work has consistently been marked by a remarkable energy and passion.
In her Reverberation Series (1997) Trappler’s aggressive mesh of string and canvas tell a story of the strength and exuberance of sounds accompanying complex traditional rituals that have fascinated the artist. Although Trappler insists that she avoids metaphor in her work, even in its most simple form, her work is clearly embedded in layers of memories, both personal and borrowed from various artistic and cultural practices around the world. Choosing to explore her themes in series, Trappler attempts to offer a more complete story of her experiences, although her intentional avoidance of titles lends a mystery and ambiguity to her work.
This sense of mystery and insubstantiality of life is evident in the tiw series in which Trappler constructs life size garments woven from strips of vibrantly coloured canvas. The collection of dresses is crude and form wall hangings creased and stained with the experiences and personalities of their owners. The movements she captures in these garments tell of the exuberance and vitality of specific women known to the artist. Although the work is highly individuated, it has a universal relevance making strong reference to the complexities of the feminine life. Despite the deliberate use of vibrant colours, the garments which form skeletons of human personalities speak of absence and loss -there is a definite sense of sadness that underlines them.
The female form for Trappler is a source of great inspiration and in her woman series she uses large rectangular boards that she binds with convoluted pieces of canvas. On a superficial level she makes references to the life force of the umbilical cord and fallopian tube. The series are very sculptural and when placed along side each other, resemble cultural totem poles, inviting the viewer to participate in some form of reflection and act of worship. The pieces are performative in that they allow the viewer to feel the movement and energy that the artist experienced in her creative process. Using the border of her paintings to contain her narratives, Trappler views each canvas as a separate package of experiences and stories. As a body of work her colourful canvases read like a patchwork landscape, fragmented, but unified by a similar reference to pattern and mark.
Harvest the moon RGS
Informed by a keen understanding of design, Trappler shows great concern for mark and line in a way that is somewhat deliberate and controlled; in her Incantation series however, the artist allows her medium to assume its own rhythm on the canvas- her use of a frantic riot of lines is creates a fierce energy on the canvas. The varying strength of line can create different narratives, and Trappler’s Jetty series tells a simple story of gently fading memories by a lake. The artist’s playful use of dots in the vibrant sunshine yellow of Harvest (2004) lead the viewer down a humorous, light and almost childlike path of discovery and dance. Her work as much as it is organic and free is marked by a distinct directive voice of the artist that is both confident and courageous.
Retrospective exhibitions are unique in the way they are instrumental in rewriting history.
Unlike many of her contemporaries who are a product of their time, choosing to employ a vocabulary of struggle in their art practice during apartheid, Trappler engages in the fight for freedom in a very unique way. Despite obvious criticism that her work and subject matter is insensitive to the harsh realities of apartheid, Jill Trappler in this mid career exhibition frees herself from the baggage of ‘struggle’ and unashamedly contributes a different conversation. Her collection of work produced pre-independence tells ‘another’ story of ordinary people, landscapes, energy and fierce aggression and resilience they possessed in a time of trouble and unrest. Through a strong focus on design Trappler depicts garments, mundane objects and landscapes worn and stained by life itself. Through a provocative display of colour the artist celebrates the vicissitudes of life while leaning on the consistent changes of textile designs that have characterised robust cultures in Nigeria, Australia and South Africa for millennia. People come and go but there are memories that we can hold on to- even within the smaller narratives of life the artist looks to celebrate a sense of dignity and importance.
Contextualising this eclectic collection of work in an old church in Orange Street, Cape Town, Trappler invites the viewer to appreciate the sacredness of her work and creative process. Her colourful offerings, that are personal translations of incantations and verses that have marked textile making for centuries, become acts of worship to a power that transcends the artist. Traditional churches are spaces of convergence; spaces of vulnerability where men and women are invited to laugh and shed their tears over broken lives. For Trappler, her work is her private offering of a full and dynamic life. The sheer presence and weight of the works begs the viewer to dive into the composition and colour of the work and engage with it emotionally, physically and spiritually.
Due to the broad mix of work on display creating various rhythms and conversations within one exhibition, this is one show that demands a thoughtful curator to arrange the work in such a way that will invite the viewer to linger at various moments within the space. Studio Conversation reads like a complete anthology– the work is meaningful, full and decadent, with the artist wringing so much emotion out of each mark and brush stroke that it is evident that the creative process is exhausting and overwhelming in its self. Like any wholesome meal, this body of work should be approached with ease and time to be fully satisfying.
Opened: July 8 2007
Closes: July 20 2007
Orange Street Studio, Gardens Presbyterian Church
Tel: 021 422 1865
Email:
www.jilltrappler.com
Hour: Mon - Sat 11am - 3pm( or by appointment )
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