Dwell: A Drawing Installation

I have made my life between two continents. I grew up under Apartheid in South Africa, balking at the oppressive regime. I always identified with the oppressed. As the laws became more draconian, my husband and I applied for and got Fulbright Scholarships, and came to Boston in 1988 with our two children. Recently I finally received my US Green card. I also have in my background my Jewish family and my Buddhist practice, which makes me a person with my feet in at least two worlds. I carry internally the residue of all this as I move through my day.

My work reflects this residue, the challenge and exhilaration of dangling between these worlds. I explore the precious and precarious places we occupy in our livelihoods and our intimate relationships. In my drawings, this dance takes place in tree houses: improvisational structures, connected by delicate ladders. Lately the effect of getting a green card has manifest with brick structures appearing in my work. In South Africa we build all structures out of brick. Seeing the wooden construction when we first arrived here, we were struck by how fragile and insecure it all seemed, like stage sets, facades.

This disconnect between place and identity, impermanence and security are themes that runs through my work. This acts as a bridge from the fantasy world of the drawing into our lives.