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Isabelle du Toit

Isabelle du ToitIsabelle du ToitIsabelle du Toit

"REQUIEM" Series - AMISSIO (16 X 20 INCHES) OIL ON CANVAS"


    REQUIEM SERIES - ARTIST STATEMENT

    The idea of Requiem derives from my grief for the world around us. The outrageous amount of death from diseases, wars, gun violence, the displacement of refuges, the loss of biodiversity, extinction of species and climate change. It is an elegy for the dead, suffering, and the passage of time, along with all its hardships for humanity and the natural world. I aim to create a body of work that encompasses the pains of our fleeting and evolutionary existence on the planet.


    I view trees as beings that silently observe, vessel witnessing our failings. Therefore, it feels natural to use them as an extension or hybrid of ourselves. I use branches and tree trunks to explore our cruelty through flesh, decay, natural science, and biology. I incorporate elements such as blood, wounds, scars, bones, fungi, mummies, fossils, botanical drawings, and insect pinning's in great detail to create an intimate connection with each piece.


    We are all experiencing inordinate amounts of pain and grief that is not expressed and not dealt with. This means we are all in some form of limbo unable to move forwards, paralyzed. Until we face and acknowledge our grief we cannot make the world better.

      

    The exposed fresh flesh and wounds in the paintings are a metaphor for death and suffering in the present. The natural history elements are a metaphor for the past. Together, they are meant to mobilize us for a future. To make us reflect on how we value life and the sacrifices needed to inhabit our planet.


    These are meant to mobilize us for a future. To make us reflect on how we value life and the sacrifices needed to inhabit our planet. My signature dark backgrounds, present in all my works, symbolize loneliness and the idea of looking into the abyss of hopelessness.


    I use minimalism to counteract the daily bombardment of images to bring about a clean form of reflection. The fine detail is a form of respect for the viewer. I paint life size.

    "REQUIEM" SERIES - INSECTUM (9 X 12 INCHES) OIL ON CANVAS"

     Insectum is about the insects that slowly—and I suspect painfully—kill trees. As we age, we can feel life’s cruelty, pain, and injustices slowly eating away at our spirit. 

    "REQUIEM" SERIES - VULNUS (9 X 12 INCHES) OIL ON CANVAS"


      "REQUIEM" SERIES - OBTRUNCARE (12 X 16 INCHES) OIL ON CANVAS"

       Obtruncare is the idea of being or feeling broken. This is an attempt to show this kind of unseen pain in a visual way. 

      "REQUIEM" SERIES - TESTIMONIUM (24 X 30 INCHES) OIL ON CANVAS"


        "REQUIEM" SERIES - TESTIS VITAE TEMPORIS (48 X 75 INCHES) OIL ON CANVAS"

         Testis Vitae Temporis (Witness of the Life of Time) is a requiem for all extinct creatures. I incorporated ammonite fossils from the Paleozoic era into a driftwood tree with fresh, open wounds, opening a discussion on loss, but also the suffering creatures endure before they are gone forever. It questions what our suffering and demise will look like—and already has started to look like—as climate change becomes irreversible. 

          "REQUIEM" SERIES - EXECRATIO (16 X 20 INCHES) OIL ON CANVAS"

            "REQUIEM" SERIES - REQUIEM AETERNAM (30 X 24 INCHES) OIL ON CANVAS"


              "REQUIEM" SERIES - ELICIUM VITAM (16 X 20 INCHES) OIL ON CANVAS"


                "REQUIEM" SERIES - Nullius Usus (9 X 12 INCHES) OIL ON CANVAS"


                  "REQUIEM" SERIES - SILEO (16 X 20 INCHES) OIL ON CANVAS"

                   Sileo is a cry out for birds. Birds are a huge part of my life. When you spend any time studying birds, not just scientifically with ornithology but with your eyes and an open heart, they teach you just how small and insignificant we are and how out of touch with nature and the planet we have become. The lack of respect we show wildlife is incredibly painful to me. 

                    "REQUIEM" SERIES - EXTUMUM (12 X 16 INCHES) OIL ON CANVAS"

                    "REQUIEM" SERIES - Medullis (30 X 40 INCHES) OIL ON CANVAS"

                     Medullis is exposed bone marrow—a metaphor for our exposed morals that life gives us to choose upon, thus cementing how we feel about ourselves on our deathbed and what we leave behind. 

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