The first impression that I got when I first looked at Andrea du Plessis’s Paloceae Lupantoza was late 19th century art that strove to document Southern Africa particularly the work of Thomas Baines. But there was something antithetical to the work of that artist compared acutely to Paloceae Lupantoza. Its thick vegetation and undisturbed lake looked like a depiction from a prehistoric scene. Du Plessis reveals that the work was inspired by Martin Johnson Heade’s ‘Orchids and Hummingbirds’ series. However, it is the layering that the artist used in the construction of the imaginative flora with the use of an AI (Artificial Intelligence) programme called Image Breeder that takes the work further from the 19th century romantic sentiments towards its own myth.
The incorporation of Augmented Reality to interact with the painting enhances the experience of viewing the work and insert the work into the contemporary paradigm where art has gone digital. The difference in this instance is that the work exists as a tangible artefact and that without it the Augmented Reality experience is rendered null. As such, Paloceae Lupantoza punctuated by its media of execution and the genre it inhabits, is anchored in traditional art. The subtly ornate frame frames that tradition while reinforcing the homage that the work pays to 19th century Romantic Art.
In this interception, I have a conversation with the artist herself following her winning of SASOL New Signatures Art Competition 2021. Our conversation traces her earlier attempts at entering the art competition, the development of her art practice and the evolution of the ideas and techniques that made Paloceae Lupantoza come into being.
To learn more about Andrea du Plessis visit her website here: https://andreadp.co.za/
To reference this text & audio documentation please cite:
Kgokong, M.A. 2021. Intraparadox, An Interview with Andrea du Plessis, Interplay Origins. 15 November 2021.Dun3s&IrieAmbientMIX . Mmutleak.com-Intraparadox.https://mmutleak.com/2021/11/14/intraparadox-an-interview-with-andrea-du-plessis-interplay-origins/
+Original image credit: Liza van Deventer
++This sound recording encountered with the file extension name IrieAmbient20XX1eD.2 remains the property of Mmutle Arthur Kgokong and cannot be copied and distributed without permission.
Late Spring
© mmutle arthur kgokong 2021
15 November
Intraparadox 