(Pic: “Inside/Outside the Studio. Tessa, Clinton and Doris in the Studio” - oil on board by Rain Battiss: 2005)
Exhibition by Rain Battiss at KZNSA Gallery.
Rain Battiss was raised on the deep rich loam of the Highveld Platteland. She writes that “The sky was big, the earth was flat. Drought was always a threat. November was the month to be anxious as to whether the rains came in time to plant the mealies. It often did not. There were not many trees. The essence of life: the seasons, planting, the soil, stones, bones, feathers, grass and cattle, are still the obsessions of my life. That, and working it all onto canvas with the essential lusciousness, complexity and difficulty of paint and colours.”
Rain Battiss practiced as an artist and psychologist in Durban for many years. Now resident in Johannesburg, she presents a new body of work that tell stories on one surface, while conflating times and spaces, feelings and things at another, deeper, layer.”
Art, The Earth, The Seasons, Myself runs until June 26. The KZNSA Gallery is situated at 166 Bulwer Road, Glenwood, in Durban. More information on 031 277 1703, fax 031 201 8051 or cell 082 220 0368 or visit www.kznsagallery.co.za