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.