Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis explores an analysis of autobiographical illustration, as it relates directly to autobiographical devices employed in Bitterkomix and my own visual journals. The result is a practitioner-specific approach that frames my own work within a discourse of comics and consequently within the larger discourse of visual narrative. These devices are analysed in the works of artists in Bitterkomix who employ autobiography, not only as a means of effecting more intimate interactions between the reader and the narrative, but also as a form of legitimising narrative. A principal deduction that I have made is that autobiographical writing operates through the filter of memory and language translation. A divergence occurs within Bitterkomix, as well as within my own work, between the artist as himself and the artist as his autobiographical self - the two are never identical. I choose to define autobiographical illustration as an interpretative and experimental visual writing process used to affirm and negate perceived concepts of self through the filters of memory, language translation and imagination. Imagination acts as an extension of current memory from which perceived past, present and future identity constructs emanate and extend. These constructs are by no means indicative of historical fact but often appear to be so given autobiography's association as a referential text. The visual journal as an autobiographical object, like Bitterkomix, seeks to legitimise itself in 'naturalising narrative' by feigning to make it the outcome of a documentative process. It is exactly the tension between autobiography's perceived characteristic as a genre that involves 'real' experiences and its actual function as a narrative construction of identity that merits its use as a strategic device. I argue how my visual journals constitute autobiographical narrative objects and archives of autobiographical illustrative form and content. This tension is amplified in my visual journals in their association as deeply personal objects and as a result of what is perceived to be the artist's natural process. Most importantly, these narrative objects are placed within the public's gaze and are made to be read as autobiographical texts, ultimately as documents of this process. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie tesis ondersoek outobiografiese illustrasie wat direk verband hou met outobiografiese praktyke wat in Bitterkomix en in my eie visuele joernale gebruik word. Die resultaat is 'n praktisyn-spesifieke aanslag wat my eie werk binne die diskoers van stripkuns plaas, en sodoende binne die groter diskoers van visuele narratief. Hierdie praktyke word geanaliseer in die werk van Bitterkomix-kunstenaars wat outobiografie gebruik, nie net as 'n manier om meer intieme interaksies tussen die leser en die narratief te bewerkstellig nie, maar ook om die narratief legitiem te maak. Ek maak die afleiding dat outobiografiese skryfwerk deur die filters van geheue en taal werksaam is. In beide Bitterkomix en my eie werk is 'n skeiding tussen die kunstenaar self en die kunstenaar se outobiografiese self sigbaar – die twee is nooit identies nie. Ek verkies om outobiografiese illustrasie te definieer as 'n interpretatiewe en eksperimentele visuele skryfproses wat gebruik word om waargenome begrippe van die self deur die filters van geheue, vertaling en verbeelding te bevestig en te negeer. Die verbeelding dien as 'n voortsetting van huidige geheue waaruit waargenome identiteitskonstrukte van die verlede, hede en toekoms voortvloei. Hierdie konstrukte is geensins aanduidend van historiese feite nie, maar kom dikwels so voor gegewe outobiografie se assosiasie as verwysende teks. My argument is dat my visuele joernale beide outobiografiese narratiewe objekte én argiewe van outobiografiese illustratiewe vorm en inhoud is. Visuele joernale as outobiografiese objekte, soos in die geval van Bitterkomix, probeer sigself legitiem maak deur middel van 'naturaliserende narratief', deur voor te gee dat dit die resultaat van 'n dokumenterende proses is. Dit is juis die spanning tussen outobiografie se aard as 'n genre wat gegrond is op 'ware' ervaringe, en outobiografie se funksie as 'n narratiewe konstruksie, wat die gebruik daarvan as 'n strategiese middel die moeite werd maak. Hierdie spanning word in my visuele joernale verhoog deur hulle diep persoonlike aard, en as gevolg van wat gesien word as die kunstenaar se natuurlike proses. Belangriker nog is dat hierdie narratiewe objekte binne die publiek se sigveld geplaas word om as outobiografiese tekste gelees te word, en ook uiteindelik as dokumente van die proses.

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis is a practice-based investigation into the mutual coming into being of artist and artwork within the process of signification as described by Julia Kristeva. The investigation is done from an unstable subjective position and requires innovative research methodologies and a sustained close connection with the practice in order to accommodate the complexity inherent to the process. The exploration involves a closer look at the process of making of the work, the possible meaning embedded in the artworks and the impact on the maker of the work. The situated knowledge acquired through the praxis provides new insight supported by the theories of Julia Kristeva and others. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie tesis is ’n praktykgebaseerde ondersoek na die wedersydse totstandkoming van kunstenaar en kunswerk binne die proses van signifikasie soos beskryf deur Julia Kristeva. Die ondersoek word gedoen vanuit ’n onstabiele subjektiewe posisie en vereis innoverende navorsingsmetodologieë en ’n volgehoue nóú verbintenis met die praktyk om voorsiening te maak vir die kompleksiteit inherent aan die proses. Die ontleding behels ’n verkenning van die werksproses, die moontlike betekenis verskuil binne die kunswerke en die impak op die maker van die werk. Die gesitueerde kennis wat uit die praxis voortspruit verskaf nuwe insigte, gesteun deur die teorieë van Julia Kristeva en ander.

Thesis (Mphil (Visual Arts. Illustration))--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / This thesis is a visual, sociolinguistic and cultural inquiry into the role of isiXhosa picture books in contemporary South Africa. From the standpoint of an illustrator, I examine several of these works arising out of a history that alienated many isiXhosa readers and writers from their language. I examine factors that influence the design, content and very notions of reading itself through the multiple languages offered by the picture book format. I argue that these books occupy a problematic space where production and consumption are affixed to paradigms of economics, language and literacy incongruent with the lives of many isiXhosa-speaking readers. My overall conclusion is that literacy and visual literacy are essential to developing an authentic 'reading culture'. Fostering a meaningful relationship with printed words and images is critical to both the emerging reader and the emerging illustrator. In producing illustrations for an isiXhosa narrative, I consider the shape of my own visual literacy through mediations with drawing and writing, relating my activities to those of a child learning to distinguish between pictures and words. The cross-over space where image/text distinctions blur potentially invites new narrative expressions. The picture book is a suitable format for expanding notions of vision and literacy, 'subverting' paradigms and revealing the richness of contemporary African tales. I rest my fundamental premise on an insistence for an increase of accessible, quality picture books in African languages that stimulate the artistic and intellectual development of all readers.

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis examines the genre of dystopian fiction in the graphic novel, V for Vendetta in which a futuristic police state, run by a totalitarian regime is portrayed. Since V for Vendetta draws on a number of other dystopian texts, New Historicist theory is employed which begins its analysis of literary texts by attempting to look at other texts as well as the historical context in which it originated, to aid in the understanding of that text. Therefore, V for Vendetta with its thorough character development and multi-dimensional storyline that the larger format of the graphic novel allows, is studied alongside other highly regarded novels. The characteristics of the nightmarish anti-utopia is identified and analysed in V for Vendetta by looking at real examples of totalitarian regimes from history. The chapters are divided into what I identified as the main themes of the totalitarian dystopia. Chapter one explains the concept of the utopia in order to grasp the concept of dystopia, and more specifically, the Totalitarian dystopia. Chapter two looks at the social structure of V for Vendetta as well as the common Totalitarian dystopia. Chapter three discusses the issue of censorship which is a recurring theme in dystopian fiction. Chapter four examines the manner in which the totalitarian regime manipulates the populace of the dystopia through propaganda. Chapter five discusses the systems of surveillance and lack of privacy in the Totalitarian dystopia and a chapter on the protagonist in dystopia concludes this study. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In hierdie studiestuk word die genre van distopiese fiksie in die grafiese roman, V for Vendetta behandel, wat ’n futuristiese polisiestaat teen die agtergrond van ’n totalitêre staatsbestel uitbeeld. Omdat V for Vendetta by soveel ander distopiese tekste leen, word dit vanuit die teoretiese oogpunt van New Historicism bestudeer, wat in die ontleding van ’n roman ander tekste asook die geskiedkundige konteks van daardie roman ondersoek, ten einde dit beter te begryp. Daarom word V for Vendetta, wat vanweë die grafiese roman se langer formaat wat ruimte skep vir deeglike karakterontwikkeling en ’n veelvlakkige storielyn, as volwaardige roman naas ander hoogaangeskrewe romans behandel. Aan die hand van ware voorbeelde van totalitêre regimes uit die geskiedenis word die eienskappe eie aan ’n nagmerriestaat in V for Vendetta geïdentifiseer en geanaliseer en dit is waardeur ek my laat lei het ten opsigte van die hoofstukindeling. In hoofstuk een word die begrip van utopie eers duidelik gemaak om die distopie, en meer spesifiek die Totalitêre distopie te verstaan. In hoofstuk twee word daar gekyk na die sosiale samestelling en magstruktuur binne V for Vendetta en die Totalitêre distopie in die algemeen. Hoofstuk drie bespreek die kwessie van sensuur - ’n gewilde tema in distopiese fiksie. In hoofstuk vier word ondersoek ingestel na die manier waarop die Totalitêre-distopie die burgery breinspoel deur propaganda. Hoofstuk vyf bespreek die verskynsel van bewaking en die skending van privaatheid in die totaliêre distopie en in die sesde hoofstuk word daar gefokus op die protagonis in die distopie.

Thesis (MA (VA)(Visual Arts))--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / This thesis investigates the concept of conversion which arose out of the process of making soap as medium for my body of sculptural works and signifying its material transformation with ‘cleaning’ and ‘conversion’ – terms encountered in research into chemical transformation (in alchemy) and further endorsed by my linking my sculptural forms, resembling fonts, to religious conversion. A line of theoretical research was thus traced into ritual as an embodied experience of recalling memory in the desire for redemption or healing. Contemporary South Africa art, it seemed, was also going through a conversion process. The movement, from the domination of apartheid to the profound change of the ‘new South Africa’, necessitated a sense of tolerance in response to the reawakening of the diversity of cultures, rituals and memories. Thus present debate surrounding the concerns of reconciliation and restitution requires a re-evaluation of the importance of memory – to forget, to renew or to uphold – in the desire for healing. This has re-awakened an appreciation of multi-cultural rituals and invoked new self-consciousness and a reformulation of identity. I was thus inspired to investigate transformation in terms of art theory, psychology and philosophy. By identifying Freud’s psychoanalytic concept of transference and of ‘working-through’ as a part of his ‘Theory of Conversion’, I arrived at this proposition: art initiates an awakening of self-consciousness. In arguing for the vitality of the mythopoetic imagination, as held within the unconscious, however, I claim that art, as an embodied process, draws from memory, and resonates within the context of a ritualised empathic interrelatedness of ourselves as humans in the environment. In attempting to understand the South African transformation, which resembles the spirit of Renaissance Humanism, I examined how historical shifts influence both inter-human and environment/human relationships. Operating largely in terms of the transference of power and belief, these moved, in an ever-recurring cycle, through sixteenth century Renaissance Humanism, which tolerated diverse religious convictions, to Cartesian reason and the quest for certainty, manifesting in religious and politically motivated wars. This revolution, I believe, has occurred again from the modern to the postmodern era. I believe, therefore, that art has a healing capacity. This flows from a metanoia – a turning around – effected in both artist and audience. Through this creative and aesthetic view of art, experienced in my practical making and substantiated in my theoretical research, art, I conclude, initiates inner conversion and thus healing.

Thesis (MA (VA)(Visual Arts))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / This thesis aims to assess the extent to which the African curated exhibition, Dak’Art: Biennale de l’art africain contemporain , succeeds in subverting hegemonic Western representations of African art as necessarily ‘exotic’ and ‘Other.’ My investigation of the Dak’Art biennale in this thesis is informed and preceded by a study of evolutionist assumptions towards African art and the continuing struggle for command over the African voice. I outline the trajectory of African art from primitive artifact to artwork, highlighting the prejudices that have kept Africans from being valued as equals and unique artists in their own right. I then look at exhibiting techniques employed to move beyond perceptions of the tribal, to subvert the exoticising tendency of the West and remedy the marginalised position of the larger African artistic community.

Thesis (MA (VA)(Visual Arts. Jewellery Design))--University of Stellenbosch, 2008. / In this thesis I explore my jewellery practice as a transformative process. I suggest that the handling of material can be described in alchemistic terms as a process that is primarily aimed at the transformation of the alchemist him/herself. This view is applicable to jewellers who employ an alchemistic approach to their own practice. I will demonstrate this point by dividing my exploration into three sections, namely transformation of material (which also entails the transformation of value), transformation of meaning, and finally, the ritualistic process of transformation as a transformative element.

Thesis (MA (VA)(Visual Arts))--University of Stellenbosch, 2008. / This thesis is informed by the assumption that the senses, in their manner of functioning, may have much to teach us about creativity and the dangers of categorization. Sound, as component of at least one of our senses, hearing, the only sense with an executive component, the voice, offers a particularly rich source for theoretical investigation. Western culture has, since the Renaissance, been dominated by the sense of vision as the distancing agent that enables the objectification that has resulted in scientific advances to our benefit, but also to our detriment in its constant reductionist impulse. This western history, dominated by the eye, must be acknowledged by us as visual artists, but, in our current globalized era, sound and hearing may possibly suggest an extended paradigm more appropriate for us to function in. Sound, through movement, is proposed as a medium that shapes the structure of materials, including the earth, by that means linking it to visual art and the ways in which it has dealt with earth and landscape throughout the centuries. Sound is also proposed as an inherently relational and social phenomenon able to be incorporated into the work of visual artists to great effect in an age moving toward intersubjectivity. Sound contributes also its other side, silence, which I present as an active space of co-existence, in which gathering may take place and through which a more subtle understanding of dialogue may be achieved.

Thesis (MPhil (Visual Arts. Illustration))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009 . / This thesis investigates the historical roots of botanical illustration. It argues that far from being simply scientific representations of plants and flowers, empty of artistic comment and only accompaniments to a scientific text, botanical illustrations assisted in presenting plants brought to Europe from the colonies, in ways that influenced the easy assimilation and appropriation of these plants into European culture. The "mastery of nature", which implies an attitude of dominance by humans over nature, is discussed as symptomatic of the European colonial period. European acts and attitudes of dominance are manifest in scientific approaches toward botany, botanical illustrations and gardens. This thesis proposes that attitudes of dominance have resulted in humans being spiritually and physically separated from nature. This thesis proposes that associations of botany, flowers and botanical illustrations with the feminine have assisted in human domination over nature. In much the same way as female is dominated by male, in a human sense, so plants and flowers were pictured as feminine − replete with feminine associations of subservience, weakness and vulnerability − making a human domination of the plant world possible. The artworks produced in conjunction with this thesis, for the degree Master of Philosophy (Illustration), aim to promote a sense of human attachment to and identification with the plants painted, in opposition to the separateness from nature that is promoted by the "mastery of nature". While traditional botanical illustration, in service to modern science, promoted the supremacy of vision as a way of knowing nature, the artworks draw attention to the unseen issues around plants and the human spiritual connections with them. This thesis proposes that, in a contemporary context characterized by an environmental crisis, there is a new role to be played by botanical illustration: it is felt that botanical illustrations should emphasize human connections with the plant world, thus alerting humans to the necessity of nature for our physical, as well as spiritual, survival.

Date in university's graduation list: April 2003. / Thesis (MA (VA))--Stellenbosch University, 2002. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The body of the thesis explores contemporary South African printmaking by focusing on The Caversham Press, established in 1985. Caversham's success encouraged the opening of four other studios, which formed the core of professional printmaking in South Africa up to 2000. Positioning Caversham in a broader arena, the politicised nature of printmaking in South Africa prior to 1985 is discussed and six projects produced at the Press between 1985 and 2000 are examined to situate the Press within the South African socio-economic and cultural context. Finally, the interaction between prints from Caversham Press projects and the art market in Johannesburg is described and analysed to ascertain the extent to which these six projects were products of their time and place in South African art history. In Appendices IV and V, the candidate's own printmaking work, which examines male midlife depression and its impact on the marital relationship, is discussed. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die hoofdeel van die tesis ondersoek die hedendaagse Suid-Afrikaanse drukkuns op die werk van The Caversham Press wat in 1985 gestig is, te fokus. Caversham se sukses het aanleiding gegee tot die ontstaan van vier ander drukkunsateljees wat die kern van professionele drukkuns gevorm het tot in die jaar 2000. Deur Caversham in 'n breër konteks te plaas, word die gepolitiseerde aard van drukkuns in Suid-Afrika voor 1985 bespreek. Verder word die ses ondernemings wat deur Caversham tussen 1985 en 2000 opgelewer is in die konteks van sosio-ekonomiese en kulturele omstandighede ondersoek. Ten slotte word die interaksie tussen Caversham Press projekte en die kunsmark van Johannesburg ontleed en bespreek met die doelom vas te stel tot hoe 'n mate hierdie ses projekte die tyd en plek van die Suid- Afrikaanse kunsgeskiedenis reflekteer. In Bylae IV en V, word die kandidaat se eie drukkunswerke, wat depressie in mideljarige mans ondersoek en die gevolg daarvan op die huweliksverhouding uitbeeld, bespreek.