CREATIVE ARTS – TASK 2 Research on a South African artist – Judith Mason(1938 - 2016) Keagan Hurter Grade 9 – 156826 A rtist statement "I paint in order to make sense of my life, to manipulate various chaotic fragments of information and impulse into some sort of order, through which I can glimpse a hint of meaning. I am an agnostic humanist possessed of religious curiosity who regards ma king artworks as akin to alchemy. To use inert matter on an inert surface to convey real energy and presence seems to me a magical and privileged way of living out my days." – Judith Mason, 2004 1 | P a g e INTRODUCTION BIOGRAPHY Judith Mason, birth name Judith Seelander Menge [1] , was born on 10 October 1938 in Pretoria [1] She grew up in Zeerust, North West, South Africa, and later moved to Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga [2] S he had taugh t herself how to read and write before s he began her Highschool journey in 19 51 , attending Pretoria High School For Girls, and matriculating in 1956 [1] [2] She attended the University of Witwatersrand (Wits) where she began her B achelor of Fine Arts in 1956 at the University of Witwatersrand(Wits) where she was trained by Charles Agent, Erica Berry , and C ecily Sash [1][3] . In 1960 she graduated and received her BA of Fine Arts [1] In 1961, after her graduation, she began teaching at Wits Technical Art School and later began giving lectures in the History of Art (1962 - 1967) , and then became a part - time lecturer , still at Wits (19 69 - 1973 ) [ 4 ] . While teaching at Wits, s he married the former head of the archaeology department, Revil Jhon Mason, taking his last name and becoming Judith Mason [ 5 ] . L ater she had 2 childre n, Tamar and Petra Mason, in 1966 and 1970 respectively [ 1 ] Judith Mason’s first solo exhibition was at Gallery 101 in Johannesburg in 1964 after winning second prize at the U.A.T. art exhibition in 1963 with her work, Cart Horse on a Stormy Stree t [1] [3] [5] After her first solo exhibition, she was chosen to represent South Africa for multiple international art events , such as the Venice Biennale , Italy in 1966 , the São Paulo Biennial , Brazil in 1971 and the Houston Art Festival , USA in 1980 [1] In 1977, Mason became a full - time artist and then spent a few years in Nepal and Ind ia before mov ing to Venice, Italy where she taught at Scoula Lorenzode' Medici, Florence, Italy until 1991 , when she moved to Cape Town, South Africa . In 1993 she began teach ing again , starting as a Part - time lecturer at Michaelis School of Art in Cape Town and then spent the rest of her years as a professional artist and became a n External examiner at Potchefstroom, Figure 1 Judith Mason(1963). Cart Horse i n a Stormy Street [ 3 ] Figure 2 Judith Mason(2016). Deciduous Angel [Hand dyed, hand spun mohair] 264 x 284cm. An artwork from the U ndiscovered A nimals collection. 2 | P a g e Pretoria, Cape Town, and Stellenbosch for Undergraduate and Masters Degrees [ 4 ] In 2016, she held her final exhibition in June , “Undiscovered Animals” , and passed awa y in White River, Mpumalanga , 28 December 2016 [6][7] MATERIALS USED BY JUDITH MASON Judith Mason specialises in surreal , somewhat horrific paintings, combining elements of gore and disgust with beauty and an ethereal undertone . She works mainly in oil paints , pencil sketches, and lithographs, though she also incorporates elements of mixed media into her artworks by pasting various objects on the canvas or board and has even worked in 3d before, as seen in her most famous project, a t riptych by the name of The Man Who Sang and the Woman Who Kept Silent [8][9] JUDITH MASON’S MOTIVATION Mason paint ed in reaction to her world : political events, books, television, the news, history, etc. all influence d her artworks [ 4 ] . This means that Mason’s artwork was not greatly influenced by art movements or ideas and was only based off h erself and her own emotions [10] Her artwork was ‘ untrendy ’ as Judit h Mason call ed it [10] Judith Mason’s main reason and motivation for creating artwork was as a tool to control all th at was uncontrollable in her life and interpret all the information we ar e constantly supplied wit h. She s aw painting not just as an artform, but a s a form of magic , a way in which joy, shock, sadness and trauma can be aroused in person through non - living, non - thinking, materials on canvas, a form of alchemy, as she call ed it [8] Mason believe d that for this property of art to be used to its full potenti al, one must have their artwork provoke the viewer, not appease them. Judith believe d that this feeling of pain is, unexpectedly, comforting to the viewer , creating a community and a safe space where all can acknowledge our own and others’ vulnerability ; ‘ ... it makes that sort of democracy of shared pain and therefore shared responsibility with all other sort of life forms clear I would like , I guess , to have my picture sort of wiring up the spectator's nerve ends to the vulnerability of beings ’ said Judith Mason in an Figure 2 Judith Mason(1995). Jean Genet o n Loop Street [Mixed media ] 93 x 122cm. Example of an artwork by Judith Mason creating a 'Democracy of shared pain' 3 | P a g e interview by Portfolio, made in 1980 - 1981 [10] It is likely for this reason that many of Mason’s artworks are as hostile as the they are. Many of Mason’s work s contain animals, hyenas and snakes especially , as she used them to represent and express ideas she did not h ow to express or describe ; she us ed the animals as placeholders [10] Hyenas and snakes are so prevalent in her artworks as she believe d th at they ha d been giv en a negative stigma by so many of the world’s mythologies and so she hope d to destigmatize the creatures by showing the ir true beauty and elegance. WHAT ASPECTS OF JUDITH MASON ARE SHOWN IN HER ARTWORKS Many of Judith Mason’s artworks, especially her later one s, express unashamed self - loathing ; hating yourself but also, at the same time, embracing those disliked parts ; ‘I am a crone, not a woman, and I want to embrace all the freedom that this status bestows’ [ 6 ] Judith Mason once said I believe that Mason expressed a particular self - loathing, yet also a love, towards her age, as evident in her artwork titled: Self Portrait Age 90 Another personal aspect of Mason shown in her artworks was her religious views. While Judith Mason was agnostic 1 , many of her artworks have a religious or mythological subject matte r As discussed in the previous section, Judith Mason h ad said that she paint ed in order to make sense of the things she didn’t understand and/or couldn’t control, which is likely why many of her painting s contain such religious subject matter ; she us ed painting as method to make sense o f religion, something she didn’t understand [1 1 ] ARTIST STATEMENT "I paint in order to make sense of my life, to manipulate various chaotic fragments of information and impulse into some sort of order, through which I can glimpse a hint of meaning. I am an agnostic humanist possessed of religious curiosity who regards ma king artworks as akin to alchemy. To use inert matter on an inert surface to convey real energy and presence seems to me a magical and privileged way of living out my days." – Judith Mason, 2004 [4] 1 She was raised an atheist and later converted to Catholicism, and so she identifies as agnostic [10] 4 | P a g e EXAMPLES OF JUDITH MASON’S WORK Figure 4 .1 Judith Mason (1998). The Man Who Sang and the Woman Who Kept Silent, triptych: a) [ O il on canvas ] , 166 x 122cm; b) [ Found o bjects ] , 200 x 70 x 45cm; c) [O il on canvas ] 190 x 160cm. Collection: The Constitutional Court, South Africa. 5 | P a g e Figure 4 .2 Judith Mason(1985). Self Portrait Age 90 , [Oil on board] 90 cm x 100cm 6 | P a g e Figure 4 .3 Judith Mason(2008). Unshackled , [ Single colour lithograph with hand - applied 22k gold lea ves ] 66.5 x 50.5cm 7 | P a g e INFORMATION ABOUT THE ARTIST JUDITH MASON’S MOST IMPORTANT CONTRIBUTION TO SOUTH AFRICAN ART HISTORY I would say that Judit Mason’s most important and valuable contribution to South African art History is her triptych, The Man Who Sang and the Woman Who Kept Silent also known as The Blue Dress 2 Judith Mason ’s The Blue Dress is motivated by and is about the execution of two members of uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) , Harold Sefol o and Phila Ndwandwe , as described by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission s [ 9 ] [12] According to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Harold Sello Sefolo 3 was abducted on 16 July 1987 and tortured for four weeks before being killed . Before his execution, Sefolo asked the executers , and was permitted, to sing Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika before he was killed by electric shoc k [9][ 12 ] His and his comrades’ bodies w ere blown up by a land mine in Bophuthatswana [12] He showed courage through song, fighting back against his executers; Harold Sefol o is the man who sang. Phila Portia Ndwand w e , head of MK’s Natal military machinery in Swaziland , was abducted in October 1998 and then tortured and kept naked for several weeks in attempt to get information on other members of MK [ 9 ] [12] . She was executed by gunshot to the head and buried o n a farm [12] . She allegedly made set of panties from blue plastic bags in order to retain her dignity and cover herself [9] She showed courage through silence, refuse to speak and having the bravery to keep silent and go against her capturers demands, knowing well that they would kill her for it; Phila Ndwandwe is the woman who kept silent After Judith Mason heard the story of Phila Ndwandwe on the radio she began collecting thrown - away blue plastic bags which she would fashion into a blue dress, 2 From here on out I refer to the painting, which is officially called, The Man Who Sang and the Woman Who Kept Silent , as The Blue Dress for the sake of brevity. 3 Ther is varying information on Harold’s last name. The official Constitutional Court Art Collection (CCAC) spells it, Sef ol a , while the Truth and Reconciliation Commission reports spell it, Sefol o . I will use Sefolo as more sources spell it with an ‘o’. Sister, a plastic bag may not be the whole armour of God, but you were wrestling with flesh and blood, and against powers, against the rulers of darkness, against spiritual wickedness in sordid places. Your weapons were your silence and a piece of rubbish. Finding that bag and wearing it until you were disinterred is such a frugal, common - sensical, house - wifely thing to do, an ordinary act... At some level you shamed your capturers, and they did not compound their abuse of you by stripping you a second time. Yet they killed you. We only know your story because a sniggering man remembered how brave you were. Memorials to your courage are everywhere; they blow about in the streets and drift on the tide and cling to thorn bushes. This dress is made from some of them. Hamba kahle. Umkhonto Poem written at the bottom of the original blue dress 8 | P a g e representing the make sift underwear used by Ndwandwe to preserve her dignity [13] After Mason fashioned the bags into a dress, she wrote a poem commemorating Ndwand we on the skirt of the dress [ 9] Mason also decided to make a painting of the sewn dress [13] . While making this painting , Mason was incredibly moved by the story of Harold Sefolo which she heard, again, from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission s [13] . Mason decided to also commemorate Sefolo in her project [13] To do this, Mason decided to d o a painting with a very similar, style, format and theme as the painting of the blue dress only this time containing 3 rusted braziers to symbolize the fire of Sefolo and his comrades [13] Judith Mason named the set of works (the dress and the two paintings ) , The Man Who Sang and The Woman Who Kept Silent and put it on show in Johannesburg and Cape Town [13] Head of the constitutional court at the time, Justice Albie Sachs, was invited to the show by a man named Lorraine Chaskalson [13] . Sachs wanted to add The Blue Dress to the Constitutional Court Art Collection (CCAC) and so he bought Mason a canvas and paint supplies and then asked her to paint another version of the brazier painting , this time containing a floati ng , rusted enamel mug to symbolise the plea of person facing death [13] Sachs suggested to a woman named Nancy Gordon that she buys the painting, which she did and then donated it to the CCAC in honour of her husband, Gerald Gordon S.C. , which is where the paintings still hang today [13] . The dress, however, would degrade over time and was, in 2016, replaced with two new dresses which Mason had offered to make [13] By 2016, however, the original story of Phila Ndwandwe and Harold Sefolo has been subjected to scrutiny and susception and is today believed to likely be false or at least somewhat fabricated and so Mason added burn holes to one of the two new dresses to address the criticism that had burnt holes in her original theme and subject. The other dress was effectively a replica of the original, only lacking the poem JUDITH MASON’S ROLE IN SOUTH AFRICAN SOCIETY AND CULTURE Judith Mason has stated that she was not very connected to the rest of the South African art scene or even other artists in general , feeling that she paint ed for herself and herself only, describing her artwork as ‘ Untrendy ’ [10] . Even with her most famo u s and well - known painting, The Blue Dress , she did not intend for it to be displayed in any gallery and certainly not in the Constitutional Court [1 3 ] However, just because Mason fe lt disconnected from other artist’s does not mean her art is not important in South African society The Blue Dress represent s the harm directed towards specifically women during apartheid, something that is not often mentioned in the TRC hearings This makes The Blue Dress one of the few outlets of recognition for victims of Gender - based violence during Apartheid . This is why Judith Mason was such an important figure in South African society. 9 | P a g e INTRESTING FACTS ABOUT JUDITH MASON 1) According to a n interview by Portfolio, made in 1980 - 1981, Judith Mason kept a fridge full of a dead animals, which she had found on the road S he used as reference for her artworks [10] . She would never kill an a nimal [10] 2) Judith Mason would enlist the help of the vet in making her artworks by ask ing them to take X - rays of the dead animals she had to use as reference [10] 3) Judith Mason had been on several Archaeological excavation s [14] . H er first husband, Rev il Mason, was an archaeologist so Judith Mason(at the time Judith Menge ) would accompany him on many of his archaeological excavations [ 14 ] Sometimes she would come with to paint the beautiful site, such as when she accompanied him to a n archaeological site in Namibia , now called Mason Shelter, containing San rock art which Judith Maosn would use as reference [15] 4) Judith Mason started school much later than her peers, beginning primary school only when she was 10 years old in 1949 [2] 5) Judith Mason made her painting s in a way that replicated the human body very accurately. She painted the skeleton of the human - like figure first, then the muscles, the n the skin , and then, if the figure has any, the clothes [10] 6) Judith Mason would often venture in the veld to searc h for the bones of dead animals [10] . She would collect these bones and hang them across her wall s to use as reference [10] 7) Judith Mason ’s work is represented in almost every major South African gallery and museum [1] 8) Judith Mason used an empty, unused swimming pool as her art studio [10] 9) Late in Judith Mason’s life, when she needed a walking stick, she used a blue gum pole [ 2 ] 10) Judith Mason had a great interest in Rajasthani puppets [2] 10 | P a g e STUDY OF JUDITH MASON’S ARTWORK THE MAN WHO SANG AND THE WOMAN WHO KEPT SILENT – BRAZIER PAINTING LINE The most obvious use of line in this painting is the wavy, bell - curve - like strokes in the background, each representing a small hill. The way the hills create negative space(discussed later on) together with the fact that the lines are fairly horizontal creates t his artwork’s signature atmosphere: an eerie silence along with the knowledge that something horrific will soon happen. 4 Dually, this also represents the 4 Horizontal lines create feeling of peace, stillness, and/or silence [16] Figure 5.1 Judith Mason(1998). The Man Who Sang and the Woman Who Kept Silent, triptych: The Brazier Painting [Oil on canvas] 190 x 160cm. Collection: The Constitutional Court, South Africa. 11 | P a g e w ay Phila Ndwandwe and Harold Sefolo felt, knowing they were close to their unjust, and premature death. There are also lines on the dress used to indicate where the different plastic bags are sewn together. This shows that Ndwandwe made the dress with little tools available to her, helping to communicate the situation in which she made the dress and provides hints alluding to why Ndwandwe made it. SHAPE This painting has a very clear example of shape in its background; the hexagonal, honeycomb - like lattice. This is a staple of many of Mason’s work and she has often used it in her artwork [13] . Her e i t is used to create feeling of entrapment and confinement , representing how Ndwandwe and Sefolo felt while being held captive This feeling of confinement creates another feeling, one of helplessness: The inability to do anything about your horrific and unfair situation, having to resort to the bare minimum just to preserve your right to dignity. The grid is also drawn with perfect straight lines, creating a man - made appearance, implying that other humans were the ones to violate others’ most basic human rights. It can also be argued that the blue dress is shape rather than form as you might expect. The dress is not interacting with the background in anyone , almost as if it is p asted onto the painting , making it rather 2 - dimensional. 5 I believe that this is not a mistake or oversight from Mason but rather intentional, done to create a feeling of not belonging in this space; Phila Ndwandwe(and Harold Sefolo) didn’t belong in the horrendous apartheid prisons they were unfairly arrested and place d in an ugly and horrific place where beautiful and kind people do not belong. FORM The most important use of form, in my opi nion, in this artwork is the hyena in the background. Some interpretations of this artwork believe this hyena represents the security or the executers while others, Judith Mason included, believe it is a psychopomp guiding Ndwandwe and Sefolo’s souls to the afterlife [13] I, however, interpret the Hyena as neither the security nor a psychopomp. I interpret it as death itself, coming to take the lives of Ndwandwe and Sefolo and then guiding them to the afterlife. This doesn’t mean I see the h y ena as a malicious being, I simply see it as force of nature acting on the innocent, unfairly treated victims The Hyena is drawn with soft strokes and little detail, making it feel as if they’re transcending the painting itself . It also creates a more ghostly appearance, contributing to the psychopomp aspect of my interpretation . We also se e the Hyena/ death move through the honeycomb grid used to represent confinement ; it is not affected by human rules and laws. 5 It is not pasted onto the rest of the painting. The dress is also painted. 12 | P a g e The braziers also have a from, as indicated by the shadows they cast VALUE The Blue Dress uses very dark and gloomy colours for the background(Hyena included) and relatively bright colours for the foreground objects such as the dress, the braziers, and the mug. Th is helps to emphasize them and make them stick out from the background as well as showing , once again, that Sefolo and Ndwandwe, do not belong in such an oppressive ang gloomy environment It is worth noting that the hyena, an important feature of the artwork, also blends in with the backgrou nd. This could be done to show that the executers, people who do belong in that oppressive and gloomy environment , are the ones who will be creating death, the hyena. COLOUR The artwork uses the complementary colours Blue and Orange, contrasting the Dress with the Braziers and mug . This is likely done to create visual appeal While the dress is obviously blue because of the story the artwork it is based on, the colour could also be representing the sorrow and depression , specifically an apathetic type of depression, given the icy colour of the dress(and of course Ndwandwe’s situation), Ndwandwe was feeling Th e bright orange fires in the braziers could represent the fiery and persevering soul s of Sefolo and his comrades , not being extinguished by death , burning ever on despite the lack of bodies to situate themselves in [1 3 ] The bright, hot colour of the flames represent Sefolo and his comrad e s ’ determination and perseverance. P rotesting , even in front of death, by song [1 3 ] Similarly , the flames can represent the rhythm of song, one with which Sefolo and his comrades died. TEXTURE The holes in the braziers’ sides indicate that they are rusted, suggesting that Harold Sefolo comes from a rural, lower - income origin that uses rusted Braziers [13] The same applies to the mug [13] The wrinkly texture of the dre ss shows that it is made of plastic bags SPACE The large number of hills in the background creates a large negative space, which together with the fact that they appear to prevail into the distance , creates a lonely landscape that seems never - ending This together with the horizontal lines(as discussed earlier) creates an eerie , liminal atmosphere for the artwork. 13 | P a g e BALANCE If I am being honest, I believe this artwork has a poor use of balance. The artwork is very heavily waited on the bottom right corner, with the only counterbalance being the hyena, which is purposely made to blend in with the background , and so it doesn’t even do much . Though, if I had to analyse how it uses balance, I would say it uses asymmetrical balance, being weighted heavily to the right side and being counter - acted with a slightly lighter left side. I do still, however, think it is the artwork’s worst quality. RHYTHM AND MOVEMENT Movement is shown in the artwork with the light brush strokes of the Hyena and the fact that it is halfway through the hexagonal grid, showing that the hyena is moving forward in the artwork. We also see its two legs back and other leg forward , making us expect forward movement in the next frame, even though there is a painting and there will be no next frame. The fact that the hyena is moving forward shows us that it, death, is coming to meet the Ndwandwe and Sefolo. Rhythm is shown through the dress seemingly blowing in the wind ; the right half of the dress is further in front than the left half. This is done to show that, in spirit, Ndwandwe is still and will always be free ; her spirit will never be limited by any oppressor Rhythm is also shown through the flames in the Braziers, symbolising the lively soul of Sefolo and his comrades. CONTRAST The best example of contrast in The Blue Dress is the dress contrasting the braziers and mug through colour. The dress and braziers and mug show contrast by using complementary colours; b lue is the complementary colour of orange. These two items are likely contrasted t o: 1) make the artwork look visually appealing, and 2) show that, while Sefolo and Ndwandwe were very different(you could say they were “contrasting”) , they still endured the same hardships and went through the same situation (“complementing”). The light in the braziers and the lit ground around the braziers contrast eachother in value; the braziers are a bright, f i e r y, orange while the ground is a dimmed down weak orange. This could symbolize the apartheid officers’ effort to crush Sefolo and his comrades’ spirit and power. Finally, all the main foreground objects, the dress, braziers, and mug, contrast the background and hyena in texture; the foreground objects all have rough, beaten - up 14 | P a g e textures, either being rusted or wrinkled , while the background and hyena(which blends in w ith the background) are all painted with a smooth texture. EMPHASIS As discussed previously, The Blue Dress uses very dark and gloomy colours for the background(Hyena included) and relatively bright colours for the foreground objects such as the dress, the braziers, and the mug. Th is helps to emphasize them and make them stick out from the background as well as showing, once again, that Sefolo and Ndwandwe, do not belong in such an oppressive ang gloomy environment Also as discussed before, the dress is emphasized because it is not interacting with the background in any way , almost as if it is pasted onto the painting, making it rather 2 - dimensional . I believe that this was done to create feeling of not belonging in this space; Phila Ndwandwe(and Harold Sefolo) didn’t belong in those apartheid prisons, they were unfairly arrested and place in a place where no one belonged PROPORTION The Blue Dress can be divided into two groups (based on position in the artwork) of items: The braziers and the mug, and the dress and hyena. These items are grouped together because of their positions. Within these groups, both items contrast each other in size; the mug appears small and the braziers appear larger. The same applies to the second group; the dress appears large and the hyena appears small. UNITY AND VARIETY The Blue Dress leans more towards a varied artwork than unified artwork, though that does not mean it’s messy and unorganized, it still has great unity in theme and shape. The artwork follows a consistent theme, maint ain ing the subject matter of Ndwandwe and Sefolo’s execution and torture, as well as how they persevered through their situation, both in different ways. The Blue Dress also uses unity in shape; the background is filled with multiple layers of nearly identical hexagonal grids. The artwork has a great variety, consisting of four 6 different items and tackling two stories in one artwork. There is also lots of contrast in the artwork, contrast in colour, value, texture , and size(proportion). All this means that the artwork has a great variety while still being unified, meaning that it spikes your interest and while not overwhelming you. THE MAN WHO SANG AND THE WOMAN WHO KEPT SILENT – FOUND OBJECTS DRESS 6 There could be any other number of items as well, it just depends on what you consider an item. I see the mug, braziers, dress, and hyena as the primary items, though your view might be different. 15 | P a g e Figure 5.2 Judith Mason(1998). The Man Who Sang and the Woman Who Kept Silent, [Found objects], 200 x 70 x 45cm. Collection: The Constitutional Court, South Africa 16 | P a g e LINE In this artwork, line s are used to write the pome at the bottom of the dress . This poem honours Ndwandwe’s courage and reminds us that her capturers didn’t win ; Ndwandwe shamed them and showed everyone that they were weak; when Ndwandwe shielded her self from part of their torture by clothing herself, they just killed Ndwandwe. Her capturers were weak and cowardly. Lines are also shown where two plastic bags are sewn together. These li nes show you that the dress is made from multiple bags, not just one large one. SHAPE The main shape in this artwork are squar es and rectangles Squares and rectangles lead to feelings of logic and structure, showing that Ndwandwe didn’t just make this dress out of passion or fear, it was a calculated and intelligent move [17] . Squares and rectangles also serve to ground us in reality, reminding us that this was a very real situation that took place, not just an idea being portrayed through a clothing item or canvas. FORM This artwork, obviously, has the form of a dress . This is clearly done to represent the situation that Ndwandwe went through, being kept naked for multiple days and then resorting to constructing makeshift panties to preserve her dignity. While Judith Mason believes that she was childish for making a whole dress rather than just the panties, I believe it ’s a way of honouring Ndwandwe and finally giving her what she was so greatly needed at that time [13] VALUE While almost all the dress is blue, other than the text, the different plastic bags are different shades of blue. While this likely wasn’t intentional, it does show that the dress was made from found plastic bags rather than all of them coming from just one source; it shows that they come from different sources. The plastic bags on the bottom part of the dress have a darker value than the ones at the top, emphasizing the lower part of the dress, pulling your eyes towards the poem. BALANCE This artwork has symmetrical balance. A Vertically symmetric balance to be specific. Both sides of the dress are rather equal, only differing in the size and shape of the plastic bags (and text of the poem of course) RHYTHM AND MOVEMENT 17 | P a g e This version of the blue dress sculpture, the 1998 version before it got replaced by the newer version, showed real movement and rhythm in the gallery. The original version was hung in the gallery on a make - shift wire hanger , causing it to swing side to side, forming a hypnotic rhythm. T he movement of the dress is used to represent someone walking, showing that, in spirit, Ndwandwe is still here and has finally gotten what she once so greatly needed. CONTRAST T his bottom of the dress uses plastic bags which are much darker than the ones above. This results in a contrast in value between the upper and lower parts of the dress. It also emphasizes the lower part of the dress, pulling your eyes towards the poem. EMPHASIS The poem on the dress is emphasized by 1) putting it on the skirt of the dress which is much larger than the bodice of the dress, emphasizing it through contrast in size(proportion), and 2) using darker plastic bags for the bottom of the dress, emphasizing it through contrast in value. PROPORTION The skirt of the dress of the dress is much larger than its bodice, resulting in emphasis being put on the skirt(and the poem as a result) and the artwork having an interesting shape. The skirt is almost always bigger than the bodice in a dress. UNITY AND VARIETY Unlike the previous artwork which leaned more towards variety, this one leans towards unity. The dress is all 1 colour , consists of 1 material, 1 shape, and uses symmetrical balance. This unity is, however, equalised by the variety of colours and sizes of plastic bags used in the dress, making the artwork still interesting. It should be noted that this artwork and the previous brazier painting are part of one triptych, meaning that the monotonous unity in this artwork and chaotic variety in the previous one counter act each other , resulting in a beautiful and stunning triptych 18 | P a g e THE MAN WHO SANG AND THE WOMAN WHO KEPT SILENT – FIRST PAINTI NG 7 Figure 5.3 Judith Mason(1998). The Man Who Sang and the Woman Who Kept Silent, triptych: a) [Oil on canvas], 166 x 122cm. Collection: The Constitutional Court, South Africa. 19 | P a g e This panel of The Blue Dress is my favourite panel. While it may not be the objectively best panel, that likely going to the brazier pa inting , I feel that this panel is very much i n Judith Mason’s style and is an amazing way to tell the story of Ndwandwe. The reason I think this to be a great way to tell the story and a good example of Mason’s work is because of how obtrusive and intimidating the artwork is(created by the strong contrast in value, heavy repetition of geometric shapes, and the presence of the intimidating hyena in the back. This will be discussed in more detail later), similar ly to many of Mason’s other artworks, but, for some reason, not any other panels in The Blue Dress LINE, VALUE, SHAPE, COLOUR, CONTRAST, PROPORTION, PATTERN The lines that show the “hills” that constitute the background are, similarly to the brazier painting, wavy and fairly horizontal, again creating that eerie, unnerving silence in the artwork [16] . This time, however, I think the atmosphere is more exemplified due to the darker value of the background and because most of the items are a lot closer to the viewpoint than in the brazier painting, giving you a deeper, more visceral connection to the a rtwork . Value is also strongly contrasted in this artwork with the bright, almost neon colour of the dres s, and then the dark, nearly black background with the only light parts being the hyena(though even th at is fairly dark) and of course the hexagonal grid. This contrast strains your eyes, it physically hurts you and I imagine the effect is even stronger in person. The honeycomb grid also contributes to th e violent nature of this artwork. Unlike in the brazier painting where the grid was faint and only covered a corner of the artwork, here they cover the entire upper half of the painting and have a very high value as well as being more densely packed. This repeated pattern strains your eyes and hurts you again. Finally, the colours also hurt your eyes T here is, admittedly , very little variety in colour in the artwork ; it consist s almost only of different values of blue and yellow , straining your eyes by being monotonous. This strategy of hurting the viewer, is, in my opinion, a brilliant way to tell Ndwandwe’s story and very in the style of Mason’s other works. The artwork doesn’t hold your hand, it attacks you, giving you a visceral connection the artwork and sending you into a subtle, yet still present, fight or flight mode, making you more susceptible to the painting ’ s story. SPACE AND PROPORTION The artwork also connects itself to you by using large proportions. All the items in the artwork are quite large, making them seem as if they’re close to the observer, you. This artwork has almost no negative space. The entire top half of the artwork is filled with a bright, geometric pattern. The bottom half is the only part that can really be called negative space. Both these features of the artwork obviously connect you 7 For this painting, I thought it would make more sense to group the elements of art and principles of design an alys es more arbitrarily than the previous artworks. This is why many of the elements and principles have been mixed or repeated, to make for a more pleasant reading experience.