Nicola Roos BA Fine Art (Sculpture), Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town 2016 Halfway Between Godhood and Indifference II , 202 4 U sed inner tyre tubes, wood, polyurethane foam, nails, epoxy resin Dimensions (mm): 850 H x 430 W x 48 D Price: R25,000 Artist Biography I was initially inspired by the work of a classmate at Michaelis. Until then, I had not found a medium I was truly passionate about, but their piece led me to explore the malleability and unique qualities of rubber more thoroughly. The recycled aspect also appealed to me, especially considering Cape Town's recent severe drought, which has prompted a shift towards more sustainable living and practices. Additionally, recent socio-political events in South Africa, such as the nationwide call for the decolonization of tertiary education and the Africanization of knowledge bases, have encouraged South Africans to reconnect with their ancestries. This collective effort to untangle the complex processes of colonization that continue to affect our country has led us to re-examine our individual places in history and rediscover our sense of ethnographic and cultural belonging during this turbulent time. This historical awareness fuels my work, grounding it in a broader narrative. Over the past seven years, I have participated in various contemporary African art exhibitions both locally and internationally. My ongoing "No Man ’ s Land" series, which has become the backbone of my practice, has resulted in over 30 iterations of the African Samurai character, Yasuke. These works have been included in multiple public and private collections worldwide, symbolizing a blend of historical narrative and artistic innovation that speaks to global audiences. Artist Statement I first started to explore this series of anthropomorphic chair sculptures during my third year at Michaelis School of Fine Arts for our first self-motivated sculpture project. I wanted to incorporate the use of recycled rubber and upcycled/found furniture items to create an art object that is simultaneously alluring and repulsive to the viewer. I carved these female torsos out of polystyrene blocks and meticulously wrapped them in thin strips of inner tyre tubing, which was pinned into the polystyrene. Around 2000+ sewing pins are used on the original set of three chairs (pictured as installation art in the Michaelis School of Fine Art library, 2015). The armless and headless torsos are almost reminiscent of early Classical sculpture busts glorifying the virtuous female form. This elevation of femininity stands in strong contrast to the sewing pins binding the rubber - a reference to the societal expectations of domesticity that beset female-identifying people. The rubber itself further speaks to the objectification and loss of autonomy that women (self-identifying and AFAB) suffer in everyday life, even in our supposedly enlightened post-modern, post-revolution age. This tenet of thought has been carried through in different articulations within this series, the latest of which (Thus Always To Tyrants, 2022), was sculpted as a response to the overturning of the Roe v. Wade precedent in the United States of America and the demeaning denial of bodily autonomy to all citizens with a uterus - and this coming from a country that prides itself on its self-assigned title of "Leader of the Free World." The Fall is an attempt to unpack the regression of our society in terms of gender equality and the tightening chokehold of the conservative, religious, patriarchal state on women today. The series title is in reference to Christian Biblical mythology that tells us of the first woman being created in subservience to the first man - and the resulting vilification of Eve after she became the scapegoat for humanity's inherent quest for knowledge and independence that led to a forced breakaway from blind faith and the structured "safety" of conservative religion.