Self/Other/Clay/Skin: Reflections on Ceramics by Andile Dyalvane, Juliet Armstrong, and Kim Bagley

Abstract

Abstract This reflection on practice develops the idea of a skin metaphor in the work of a selection of contemporary South African artists working in clay. In particular, it discusses selected works by Juliet Armstrong and Andile Dyalvane in relation to the author's own practice. The author proposes that body- and skin-like forms can speak about how we see ourselves and others within post-apartheid South African cultural contexts. Themes discussed in relation to ceramic works include cultural appropriation, the anxieties of whiteness, and cultural identities. The article covers works produced at least ten years after the pivotal democratic elections in 1994 that symbolise the end of the socially and economically damaging apartheid regime. With this in mind, all of these works can be interpreted as part of an (admittedly flawed) project of slowly healing our metaphorical skin, in which South African artists have grappled with cultural and human identities from a range of highly individual perspectives. In engaging with their works, we are better able to understand specific local human conditions.