Nellien Brewer: Human Trafficking Awareness Week

Nellien Brewer: Human Trafficking Awareness Week: Eros is known as the god of love. According to Freudian theory this includes the sexual instinct which may lead to the pursuit of unin...

Human Trafficking Awareness Week

Eros is known as the god of love. According to Freudian theory this includes the sexual instinct which may lead to the pursuit of uninhibited pleasure. The negative results of uninhibited self-gratification in the absence of a transcendent authority in the post-modern world include activities such as pornography, prostitution, child molestation and human trafficking. Gratification for the perpetrator invariably leads to the destruction of the victim, mentally and often physically.

In these works a decaying leaf becomes a metaphor for the fragility of the victim. Scripture becomes a metaphor for the soul of the victim which is set free, often only through death.

Nellien Brewer: Joburg Fringe 2015

Nellien Brewer: Joburg Fringe 2015: Joburg Fringe 2015 This year the Joburg Fringe was held at Arts on Main, Maboneng Precinct. Claudia and Sarie put out an open call for ...

Shards

Many South Africans have a religious background. We are taught that God will protect us, and to have faith in His Word. At the same time, South Africa is inundated with crime and violence which put these theories to the test. Broken glass and bullet holes are relics of the crime we face on a daily basis.

In the works Shards #1 and Shards #2 (oil on digital prints, 2014), I have combined Scripture with images of shattered windshield glass. The glass shards have a beauty in spite of the horror. It obscures the Word in some areas, while the Word remains clearly visible in others. This becomes symbolic of the push-and-pull between faith and fear - a spiritual and psychological battle faced by most of us.

Nellien Brewer: 2 Chronicles 15:3 (2015)

Nellien Brewer: 2 Chronicles 15:3 (2015): Inner cities fascinate me – the socio-economic make-up; the different cycles of decay and regeneration that keep repeating over and o...

2 Chronicles 15:3 (2015)

Inner cities fascinate me – the socio-economic make-up; the different cycles of decay and regeneration that keep repeating over and over. Wealth is found adjacent to abject poverty. Slum buildings rub shoulders with ultra-modern or beautifully restored architectural gems. At the same time, inner cities are hostile environments which often isolate people from families, wholesome values and nature. This hopelessness and despair is expressed in various ways – crime, violence, neglect, vandalism and graffiti – the expressive art of the streets. 

This image was created for the Altered Realities exhibition at the Pretoria Art Association. It shows existing graffiti photographed on a wall in Durban. Various foliose and crustose lichens are growing over the image. The lichen consists entirely of Scripture and partly obscure the graffiti. The image is a comment on society and the reality of its rejection of traditional values, while the lichen, in overcoming harsh reality through complex resilience, becomes a symbol of regeneration and hope.

Digital photographic print, digital print on Perspex, framed, 900 x 600mm

2 Chronicles 15:3 (detail)

Lichen in oil on digital print

Lichen #1 (2013)                  Lichen #2 (2013)

Lichen continues to fascinate me, and I love exploring ways to represent these exquisitely intricate little organisms. These two images show foliose lichens painted in oil on digital prints of text lichen.

The digital image was created in Photoshop and shows organic lichen 'growing' over a background of lacy text. The background was created in Old Testament Scripture (Psalms), while the lichen images are New Testament (Gospels). Conceptually this symbolises the modern church where non-traditional, organic forms of worship and gatherings co-exist with the formal traditional churches.