ANCIENT PLAYGROUND

My work is often described as landscapes with a
metaphysical quality.

Inspiration for the work comes from my interests in the
history of primitive civilizations and in particular the
signs that are left behind by man and nature. Nature lays
down tracts in the form of fossils and man leaves symbols
and signs on stones and wall paintings.

My paintings are combined landscapes in stone with a
metaphysical but also primitive quality. All the symbol
language is derived from the prehistory of Africa as
depicted in our countryside’s stone caves, rock formations
and river-beds. Some symbols, however, have a universal
quality the artist describes as ancient stories on stone.

The title “Ancient Playground” refers to the engraved
symbols on the site that I have been exploring for the last
20 years. Driekopseiland is as dried river bed with more
than 2500 symbols engraved in the harsh lava rock of the
Kimberly/ Douglas district.

My theory is that ritual has taken place here over many
years and that the groupings of specific patterns indicate
playfulness and direction, information and identification.
Perhaps the mothers of our ancestors wanted to be
remembered for these spirituals qualities and wanted their
children to come back to a sanctuary year after year when
the seasons changed and when it was time to say their
thanks to the powers of the universe. Why else was it not
just drawn in the dry sands?

The mystical relationship between chaos and order is
portrayed by these symbols from our cultural prehistory.
The magical content reminds the onlooker of mankind’s
wonderful poetic and magical world of exploration and
growth. About times when signs were more important than
words.

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BOWL RITUAL

Posted 29 June 2005, www.face.org.za, author: Lynette ten Krooden.