Andries Fourie: Artist Statement
My recent work focuses on an in-depth exploration of place. As an immigrant, it seems to me that I inevitably compare the place of my birth (The Eastern Cape Province of South Africa) with the place where I live now (Oregon). I do so by
examining the connection between landscape, ecology and identity in order to create a more nuanced and insightful understanding and depiction of the places that matter to me. I see this as a comparison between the geography of memory and the geography of the present. My hope is that in doing research and making artwork about a specific place, I am able develop a depiction of it that transcends the purely optical representation of a traditional landscape painting. To accomplish this, I engage in an inter-disciplinary exploration that aims to benefit from the perspectives of fields as diverse as biology, geography, anthropology and history.
I find that an exploration of ecology is one of the most useful ways for me to look at the idea of place. Ecology is a holistic field that explores the interconnectedness of all the elements of ecosystems, as well as the human impact upon them. My work often includes an element of mapping: be that of physical features of a landscape or the web of relationships in a specific ecosystem.
Formally, my work explores the tension between flatness and dimensionality, found objects and fabricated objects, sculptural form and graphic images, and control and spontaneity. Conceptually the contrast between the specific and the metaphorical, the rational and the emotional, the personal and the universal and the past and the present are of great interest to me. I mix media (sculpture, painting, printmaking and digital media) because I enjoy contrasting materials and violating the viewer’s expectations of how various media and genres function.
My recent work focuses on an in-depth exploration of place. As an immigrant, it seems to me that I inevitably compare the place of my birth (The Eastern Cape Province of South Africa) with the place where I live now (Oregon). I do so by
examining the connection between landscape, ecology and identity in order to create a more nuanced and insightful understanding and depiction of the places that matter to me. I see this as a comparison between the geography of memory and the geography of the present. My hope is that in doing research and making artwork about a specific place, I am able develop a depiction of it that transcends the purely optical representation of a traditional landscape painting. To accomplish this, I engage in an inter-disciplinary exploration that aims to benefit from the perspectives of fields as diverse as biology, geography, anthropology and history.
I find that an exploration of ecology is one of the most useful ways for me to look at the idea of place. Ecology is a holistic field that explores the interconnectedness of all the elements of ecosystems, as well as the human impact upon them. My work often includes an element of mapping: be that of physical features of a landscape or the web of relationships in a specific ecosystem.
Formally, my work explores the tension between flatness and dimensionality, found objects and fabricated objects, sculptural form and graphic images, and control and spontaneity. Conceptually the contrast between the specific and the metaphorical, the rational and the emotional, the personal and the universal and the past and the present are of great interest to me. I mix media (sculpture, painting, printmaking and digital media) because I enjoy contrasting materials and violating the viewer’s expectations of how various media and genres function.