ARCHIVE

Bestseller

KASH OUT

KASH OUT is a series of paintings, sculptures and drawings that Ive been developing for the last 3 years. I like the idea of an era that spans a few years to fully flesh out expand and experiment within a visual pocket.

The sculptures, paintings and mixed media drawings in my KASH OUT series respond to the rise of far-right rhetoric globally. Through the use of iconography like guns, forced evictions, bags of gold, barrels of oil, and military headwear - my KASH OUT paintings speak to the way state sanctioned violence is used as a means of control; and how corrupt politicians all seem to be following the Orange-Man Model (that is Trump, for those who don’t follow).

These new art pieces continue to tie into the
broader themes of KASH OUT being: hustle culture, late-stage capitalism, global pollution and how resources are not fairly traded but stolen and fought over.

My childhood influence of anime, comic books, and graphic novels definitely shines through these new paintings and drawings. I love how each painting feels part of a long running graphic novel released panel by panel. These new paintings were also heavily influenced by romantic paintings, historical images from books, and documentary photography of human suffering. I find it so fascinating that these extremely old images are so reflective of the now. I wanted the works in this exhibition to be a visual feast; full of gestural mark-making and explosive colour. Through line
and movement I'm trying to recreate the hyper-swift-fast-paced-rhythm of war and death in our world.

JOBURG DEBUT SELECT

Artistry in action

"I firmly believe art should reflect the times in which we live."

Uncompromising standards

"I believe that artistic output should contain a level of social commentary to validate itself in conversational reception. Art should make the viewer ponder and reflect."

Made to last

"These new paintings were also heavily influenced by romantic paintings, historical images from books, and documentary photography of human suffering. I find it so fascinating that these extremely old images are so reflective of the now."

Quality you can feel

KASH OUT is a nihilistic mirror of our physical world. I wanted to create a world that lives within the extremities of societal collapse.

My practice is undoubtedly influenced and informed by the ongoing wars, resource extraction, conflicts, environmental destruction, and the widespread resurgence of right-wing ideologies that have shaped our collective discontent. The subjects in my work have mainly focused on the discarded individual, and how societal and systematic failure can push one into a violent struggle of survival. This new collection of artworks turns the focus onto the oppressor, while managing to stay true to the realities of those affected by politically abusive forces. I include military iconography to give a better sense of a war-ridden world. Police caps, weapons, vans, executions, guns, uniforms and bodies. I wanted my work to feel like a reflection of what’s happening right now locally and abroad.

There’s a shift towards loose abstraction. I’ve been playing with colour, mark-making, gestures, and line work. The paintings present themselves almost unfinished compared to most paintings that have formed the success of this series. The loose and abstract elements directly mirrors the state of global politics. The world is becoming difficult to process, to the point where our attempts to make sense of certain moments are interrupted by the next, and the result? A sense of incompleteness.

/// SKETCH DROP ///

As a body of work KASH OUT seeks to capture the visual language of hustle culture, late-stage capitalism, and the way resources stolen rather than traded. These sketches carry the same weight, just sketched looser, faster, and with more mischievousness.

Shop now

Much of my motivation to speak on the cyclical events of history is due to my research methods. I found inspiration from books documenting the globe's historical relationship to war and violence. Two books that stand out in particular are: WORLD PRESS PHOTO COMPETITION 09, a publication covering some of the world’s most significant examples of visual reportage, and The World of Guns by Richard Akehurst, a book on the history of the gun itself, and its use in warfare and the West. Looking at these images, I would see the repetitive nature of history and how images that were taken to capture a moment in time are repeated in so many ways. Much like the earth’s rotation, history continues its cycle, shaping the greater human experience. The focus is not merely political violence itself; rather, this body of work critiques the necessity of violence. I achieve this by use of satire, symbolic imagery, and a postmodernist view. This collection is a reminder that the leaders that promise to keep us from the pains of the past fail by dragging us through what will be tomorrow’s history lesson.

Shop now