THE DISTANCE BETWEEN
There are small places in this world where artists have settled, finding where the spaces between living and creating transform into, in this case, visual artworks. Places where creatives (artists, musicians, poets, chefs and other artisans) are fortunate to be enveloped by calm and appealing environs that are conducive to creativity.
With some 120 kilometres between them, covering varied landscapes from the coast moving inland, Riebeek Kasteel and Kommetjie are two such places connected by a metaphoric creative heartbeat.
In describing the physicality of these two lovely places, we cannot ignore the spiritual power of the natural world, described by some as a thin place, which is where the veil between the physical and spiritual world becomes permeable and where our perspectives of the world could develop differently.
Because of these beautiful places, and an idea of this aesthetic being ‘perfect’, it has to raise awareness of the opposite also being present – a place where there is so much struggle, where life is lived on the edges. However, the sense of being in a thin place can attest to the healing power of the natural world, where one could move into an in-between place, with possibility.
This exhibition is a result of a concentration of people who make art, distilling an essence of where they live, continually inspired to develop their work and are also lucky enough to form their own closely knit community within Kommetjie.