The day I left South Africa, the two friends that had taken me to Durban International Airport (Robyn Kearney and Craig) were stopped from entering the airport because of security measures. I had waited two years to be able to leave due to international sanctions. It occurred to me that I was about to be blown out of the sky. The threat of terrorism was something that enveloped us daily. My suitcases were opened and searched at the airport entrance while the South African Police and the incredible Bomb Squad's Alsatians became the replacement for families and friends. No-one else was allowed in.
This painting is a small artpiece I did in Perth. I had stopped feeling nervous every time I walked past a rubbish bin and I had almost forgotten the metal detectors and body searches in the supermarkets and the night clubs. I didn't paint for some time.....I couldn't afford paint and brushes. My early works in Australia were highly detailed pencil works with unintentional traces of Africa within. I did paint some giant, purple cockroaches onto the senior room of a boy's boarding house but never considered it an artwork. This has no name and I painted it whilst sharing a rental unit with a heavily tattooed, reformed lizard-legged drug addict called Micheal.
A small note for the Alternatives: I found a fifteen year old video of Helge Janssen's that Robyn Kearney has put onto u-tube. Helge was an iconic force behind the underground music culture in Durban during the civilian war.
