BONITA ALICE

BONITA ALICE, Those Who Weep II

Woolen dust & archival glue on fabriano 300 gsm paper, 56 x 77 cm

Bonita Alice studied at the University of the Witwatersrand and the University of Cape Town in South Africa and taught in several Fine Art Departments until 2003. She spent 12 years in London before moving back to South Africa in 2020.

Alice’s studio practice reflects her interest in animal studies, a growing, global, crossdisciplinary field in which attempts are made to better understand human and animal relationships. Alice is particularly interested in aspects within psychology and psychoanalysis which she believes are useful in understanding the abuse of animals and the environment.

"These dust drawings are rooted in the central idea of psychoanalytic thought, that, even our most ordinary daily experience, we repress into the unconscious that which hurts us too much. The lattice form that gives structure to each image recalls the decorative screens of a confessional or harem; both places of theatricalised separation. The wool dust is a reference to transience, but also evokes something softened or cushioned, as if to protect the vulnerable."
– Bonita Alice