Deborah Bell

Deborah Bell (1957, Johannesburg) is a South African painter and sculptor whose works are known internationally. Quotes As I was making the work for this show it all felt like a progression, a continuation of themes I have been using for many years. However, now with the chaos and unrest in the world sparked by COVID, I look back and with hindsight can piece together a story and see a logic in the unfolding of events and how it all leads up to this present moment. My interview with Deborah Bell I think that art serves so many purposes. Amongst other things, it can initiate, recount, describe, seduce, critique, protest and extend its definition of itself. I, however, am interested in the idea of art as a power object. I am drawn to the art of cultures that have used it for this purpose. My interview with Deborah Bell I would like to believe that art can do all these things. However, when I work, I am not necessarily aware of the end viewer. My act of creating is in many ways a selfish act. My interview with Deborah Bell When I start making the sculptures with my assistants, we build a tall tower out of an upright slab, but then I need to call out the presence of each piece. I start with the head. I build, cut and carve and build again. I may make a face many times until there is a sense of recognition My interview with Deborah Bell I have always been interested in the power and symbolism of numbers. Whenever I have created a series of sculptures made up of different figures, whether it be five, seven or nine, I have always been very aware of their symbolic significance. My interview with Deborah Bell I think of ancient sacred spaces, standing stones, Stonehenge and labyrinths. For me, a circle is a votive space. As individuals we are always in the centre of a circle, the centre of all directions, the hub of our own wheel. My interview with Deborah Bell For me Artemis is the warrior woman. The huntress - bow in hand, forever striding forward. Her arrows arc into the future. She has great purpose, and I can see that as an archetype she has helped me travel far My interview with Deborah Bell External links Category: living people Category:Women artists from South Africa Category:Painters from South Africa Category:Sculptors from South Africa Category:1957 births Category:Women born in the 1950s