MARK RAUTENBACH

MARK RAUTENBACH, 8:30:50 (Zazen suite, Ad Hominem Series)

Mixed media, 128 x 88.5 cm

The title, Zazen, refers to a meditative discipline that is the primary practice of the Zen Buddhist tradition, a form of seated meditation that is believed to give insight into your true nature of being.

For Rautenbach, matter is the means he uses to express memory and meaning. He looks at the unseen forces and tensions which are inside and between visible material things. The textural languages he uses, guides his creative processes by inviting consideration of their inherent potential and associations.

MARK RAUTENBACH, 8:31:03 (Zazen Suite, Ad Hominem Series)

Mixed media, 128 x 88.5 cm

The title, Zazen, refers to a meditative discipline that is the primary practice of the Zen Buddhist tradition, a form of seated meditation that is believed to give insight into your true nature of being

“I love the idea that sewing thread, the material I work with, is a material that invisibly holds things together. The work nudges the viewer into becoming aware of how we make things up, we make up stories, we see things that aren’t actually there. That these stories invisibly hold our realities together.”- Mark Rautenbach

MARK RAUTENBACH, 8:31:14 (Zazen Suite, Ad Hominem Series)

Mixed media, 128 x 88.5 cm

The title, Zazen Suite, refers to a meditative discipline that is the primary practice of the Zen Buddhist tradition, a form of seated meditation that is believed to give insight into your true nature of being.

“I like to think of the work as Rorschach tests, scrying devices, that draw things out of the viewer's imagination. The viewer completes the work.” – Mark Rautenbach

MARK RAUTENBACH, All Cats are Dark Grey (All Cats are Grey Suite, Shot Series)

Mixed media, 30 x 21 cm

The title, All Cats are Grey, references the proverb ‘all cats are grey in the dark’, which highlights that the qualities that distinguish people from one another are obscured in some circumstances, and if they can't be perceived, they do not matter.

MARK RAUTENBACH, All Cats are Grey (All Cats are Grey Suite, Shot Series)

Mixed media, 30 x 21 cm

The title, All Cats are Grey, references the proverb ‘all cats are grey in the dark’, which highlights that the qualities that distinguish people from one another are obscured in some circumstances, and if they can't be perceived, they do not matter.

Through ritualistic repetition – drawing on the arcane and everyday, the collective and personal – Rautenbach’s meditative works come to embody psychological and cultural patterns, giving form to invisible spaces. Physical conglomerations – of thread, steel safety pins or glass – are metaphors for emotional connections.

MARK RAUTENBACH, Dry Summer (Late Summer Suite, Ad Hominem Series)

Mixed media, 128 x 88.5 cm

“I believe that there's an animating spirit that gets channelled through artists. Artists are facilitators, and the more I get out of the way, the smoother the flow. Chance is an excellent way of facilitating this. I structure things and play with material so that this can happen. Formally I use chance as an element to contrast with the other meticulous, rigorously-controlled elements.” – Mark Rautenbach

MARK RAUTENBACH, Gathering Moss (Garden Suite, Ad Hominem Series)

Mixed media, 128 x 88.5 cm

“I mostly draw colour schemes from things I see about me, often objects from nature like plants and animals. I am also interested in how we actually see things, failing eyesight, how looking through spectacles, distorts and enhances seeing. And then there's what is colour, actually? There's the pigment and the dye, but where and when is it colour?” – Mark Rautenbach

MARK RAUTENBACH, Gentian (Ad Hominem Series), 2023

Mixed media, 127.5 x 88.5 cm

Rautenbach works in a variety of media, including material which is considered waste matter, as well as textiles and paper. His practice is often process-based, and draws on traditional craft techniques.

The textural languages he uses guides his creative procedures by inviting consideration of their inherent potential and associations. Through ritualistic repetition – drawing on the arcane and everyday, the collective and personal – Rautenbach uses his meditative works to embody psychological and cultural patterns, giving form to invisible spaces. Physical conglomerations – whether of thread, steel safety pins or glass – symbolise emotional connections.

By renegotiating found objects and materials from shops, recycle bins, gifts and disassembled artworks, Rautenbach manifests forms which exhibit his alchemical journey: his commitment to be present with all things even when they are uncomfortable. To delve into, uncover, bind and cocoon his being – to transform into something beyond expectations.

MARK RAUTENBACH, Golden (Ad Hominem Series)

Mixed media, 130 x 130 cm

Mark Rautenbach is a Cape Town based artist who works in a variety of media, often with material which is considered waste matter, as well as textiles and paper. Rautenbach’s practice is often process-based, and draws on traditional craft techniques. Rautenbach was a university lecturer in design for many years, and education recurs as a theme in his work, along with identities born out of narratives, represented through yarn.

MARK RAUTENBACH, Last Flowers (Late Summer Suite, Ad Hominem Series)

Mixed media, 128 x 88.5 cm

“It interests me to get to the fundamental principles of things, hence deconstruction, the weft and the warp of fabric. What happens when there's only warp and no weft, and vice versa? What happens when there's just colour, tone and texture, and no image?” – Mark Rautenbach

MARK RAUTENBACH, Last Sunset (Late Summer Suite, Ad Hominem Series)

Mixed media, 128 x 88.5 cm

“I draw much courage and inspiration from Sheila Hicks and Judith Scott as well as the women of Greek mythology, Penelope, Ariadne and Arachne. With them, I feel a sense of belonging and fellowship. That I'm in a stream of creativity that has been flowing long before me and will continue long afterwards. I understand why and how they do things. The techniques they use, their approaches. I feel understood by them when I see their work.” – Mark Rautenbach

MARK RAUTENBACH, Lost Apricot (All Cats are Grey Suite, Shot Series)

Mixed media, 30 x 30 cm

The title, All Cats are Grey, references the proverb ‘all cats are grey in the dark’, which highlights that the qualities that distinguish people from one another are obscured in some circumstances, and if they can't be perceived, they do not matter.

MARK RAUTENBACH, Moss Gathering (Garden Suite, Ad Hominem Series)

Mixed media, 128 x 88.5 cm

“I carefully select colour and tones, meticulously grading and contrasting them. I'm fascinated by transitions. When does green-become-turquoise-become-blue? When is it no longer green? How green changes and is influenced by the colours around it. And how it affects the colours it surrounds or into which it is placed.” - Mark Rautenbach.

MARK RAUTENBACH, Nostalgia (Late Summer Suite, Ad Hominem Series)

Mixed media, 128 x 88.5 cm

“My Ad Hominem series, evoke images of various natural phenomena, from a micro-level - blood capillaries - to a macro-level - lightning and aerial views of rivers; cross sections of soil strata. Although the work is non-representational, it's difficult to not see things in them.” – Mark Rautenbach

MARK RAUTENBACH, Post-punk Beige (All Cats are Grey Suite, Shot Series)

Mixed media, 42 x 30 cm

. The title, All Cats are Grey, references the proverb ‘all cats are grey in the dark’, which highlights that the qualities that distinguish people from one another are obscured in some circumstances, and if they can't be perceived, they do not matter.

MARK RAUTENBACH, Redden (Ad Hominem Series)

Mixed media, 130 x 130 cm

Mark Rautenbach is a Cape Town based artist who works in a variety of media, often with material which is considered waste matter, as well as textiles and paper. Rautenbach’s practice is often process-based, and draws on traditional craft techniques. Rautenbach was a university lecturer in design for many years, and education recurs as a theme in his work, along with identities born out of narratives, represented through yarn.

MARK RAUTENBACH, Sanguine taupe (All Cats are Grey Suite, Shot Series)

Mixed media, 30 x 21 cm

The title, All Cats are Grey, references the proverb ‘all cats are grey in the dark’, which highlights that the qualities that distinguish people from one another are obscured in some circumstances, and if they can't be perceived, they do not matter.

MARK RAUTENBACH, Siouxsie’s Blusher (All Cats are Grey Suite, Shot Series)

Mixed media, 42 x 30 cm

The title, All Cats are Grey, references the proverb ‘all cats are grey in the dark’, which highlights that the qualities that distinguish people from one another are obscured in some circumstances, and if they can't be perceived, they do not matter.

MARK RAUTENBACH, Summer Dry (Late Summer Suite, Ad Hominem Series)

Mixed media, 128 x 88.5 cm

”For many decades, I was working very much in the dark and felt quite isolated working with ‘unorthodox’ materials. It feels to me that fabric, fibre and textiles have only really received acceptance in the contemporary art scene this millennium - even though humans have always been making art with them.” – Mark Rautenbach

MARK RAUTENBACH, Summer Luna-eclipse (Late Summer Suite, Ad Hominem Series)

Mixed media, 128 x 88.5 cm

“There are many things to unravel with these traditional art and craft forms. Beginning with a play on the word “yarn” to describe the notion of a story or narrative, but also one of my primary materials – and then the many interpretations of meanings that can emerge from these traditions.” – Mark Rautenbach

MARK RAUTENBACH, Teal Taupe (All Cats are Grey Suite, Shot Series)

Mixed media, 42 x 30 cm

. The title, All Cats are Grey, references the proverb ‘all cats are grey in the dark’, which highlights that the qualities that distinguish people from one another are obscured in some circumstances, and if they can't be perceived, they do not matter.

By re-negotiating and repurposing found objects and materials, Rautenbach creates forms which allude to his alchemical journey: his commitment to be present with all things, even when they are uncomfortable.