INSTALLATION view IMAGES by Michael HALL
UNVEILING CEREMONY is an installation of mixed media tapestries by Cape Town-based artist Lizel Strydom. These works were inspired by Strydom's personal experience with breast cancer and represent a period of renewed self-discovery. The tapestries are created using wool, thread, hand-dyed Italian raffia, and deconstructed vintage jewellery. They are arranged in the form of an altar, representing a place of unveiling and transformation.
The materiality of the mediums, including the use of velvet textiles, evokes a sensuality that Strydom links to her exploration of femininity and the body. The repetitive and laborious process of creating the work allows for the necessary integration of personal feelings and the ability to make the intangible tangible, opening the doorway to processing feelings of mortality and vulnerability.
Strydom invites viewers to journey with her through these personal labyrinths of self-discovery as she continues to transform and propose innovative ways of mark-making and composition through her processes. The intricate tapestries are imagined into linear labyrinth compositions and abstracted landscapes, representing Strydom's experience of introspection and healing in a very visceral way.
text by African art scene
Everard Read Cape Town | cubicle series
9 - 21 January 2023
LILAC LUMINARY, 2021-2022
CLUSTERS OF EXQUISITE FRUIT, 2021-2022
TENDER CHEEKS AGLOW, 2021-2022
PARADISE WHISPERS I, 2022
PARADISE WHISPERS II, 2022
FRAGMENTED IN LIGHT, 2021-2022
LUCE, 2022
THE LUMINARIES I, 2022
