(Work by Dina Cormick)
The work of well known local sculptor, Dina Cormick can be
seen in her new exhibition, A QUESTION OF BALANCE: When all around is upside down, which is
currently running at the Phansi Museum in Glenwood, Durban.
Cormick says her initial thinking on the approach to the
theme of exhibition all began in a precarious position of uncertainty - to fall
or not to fall – both options being equally depressing and gloomy. Hence, in a crazy world, she elected to
explore radical solutions, stretching to the outermost limits of credibility
and possibility. After all, she says,
the only truth is the experience of the moment, awakening to a realization that
one must risk everything to find equilibrium.
As can be seen in examples of her earlier work, Cormick has
always been fascinated by the interplay between the possible and the impossible
in art. For her, she says, the most enthralling and challenging aspect of the
creative process is releasing the waiting image, mysteriously concealed within
the material and in this case, her chosen medium – wood. Oftentimes says Cormick, an artist has to
relinquish preconceived expectations and trust simply in the wondrous
exploration of creative imagination.
In her artist’s statement, she says that an important,
albeit tortuous, balancing is deciding when to stop working on a piece. “I am
caught between the dilemma of ‘finishing’ to a traditionally accepted degree of
completion – waxed, shiny, no scratches or defects or presenting the artwork in
the peak, raw moment of [for me] deepest expression – unwaxed, with evidence of
the process and the tantalizing possibilities of incompletion.”
“Finally, the question of balance referred me to the
archetype of the circus clown who puts the ups and downs of ‘life’ into perspective,
who helps us laugh at our own idiosyncrasies, essentially to see things
differently.”
Born in Nkana, Zambia and schooled in Harare, Zimbabwe, Cormick
studied art at Rhodes University, Grahamstown and at Durban University of
Technology, Durban. Since 1978 she has worked as freelance artist from her
studio in Durban. Her commissioned artworks which include wood sculptures,
mosaic and ceramic panels can be found widely distributed throughout Southern
Africa in ecumenical church institutions, as well as in numerous grassroots and
socio-political organisations. Her particular concern and interest lies in the
didactic importance of art. In 1992 she graduated cum laude as a
"Mistress" of Feminist Theological Ethics, after critically
discussing the manner in which women have been imaged by the Christian Church.
Cormick has participated in numerous group exhibitions and
solo exhibitions in South Africa and abroad and has contributed to a number of
collaborative printmaking portfolios, for example the Images of Human Rights
Portfolio, an Artist for Human Rights project. Her work and her contribution to
South African art is widely represented in national publications and in
published and critical writings and her artwork graces the covers of numerous
journals, magazines, brochures, calendars and posters.
The exhibition closes on March 18, 2017. Phansi Museum is
situated at 500 Esther Roberts Road in Glenwood, Durban.
For additional information, contact the Director, Sharon
Crampton on 031 206 2889 or email:admin@phansi.com
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