Multispecies records (2022-2024) is a series of new works on paper that involves collage methods such as cutting, layering and fragmentation/synthesis to explore ideas of simultaneity and responsibility at play within human and nonhuman worlds. By layering and combining, the method of collage allows for overlapping time-space relations to occur, as private events and historical records are reconstituted in the present moment and presented as a single image. Cutting provides access to another layer and forces a perspective in the manner that the foliage of a tree can provide both refuges and vantage points for peering through. As such, the textured surfaces of these collages could suggest the complexity of the natural-cultural environment, since the cuts reveal simultaneous layers of different visuals. At the same time, my process of cutting imposes grids and consequently splits uniformed surfaces into isolated fragments that are later gathered and carefully adhered to the paper surfaces. Through this interplay between controlled processes and optically-merged complexity, these artworks may provide a starting point for thinking through nature-culture separations, macro- and micro- scale relations, and interdependency enacted within multispecies relationships.

Works from this series were exhibited at Stairways and Ruins, a ViNCO initiative held at the North West University Gallery, Textured surfaces at the Pretoria Art Museum, Pieces and the worlds they inhabit at the Association of Arts, Pretoria and Among other things at 1c Stanley Street, Gqeberha.