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'W.3.03' watercolour, 25x66cm
'Grand Canyon', 14.03, watercolour, 46x81cm
'Pilanesberg', 04.04, oil on board, 58x77cm
'Alaska', 02.04, oil on board, 58x77cm
Sometimes there is a need to stand back and assimilate the threads of one's life in order to see and understand the journey one has taken.
These paintings are current, but they are based on things past as well as new explorations. I have been remembering my childhood in South Africa. There the garden of our family home became my first 'inner landscape'. I also recall my journey to study, travel and then teach in the United States. The Grand Canyon was an overwhelming inspiration to paint: Alaska confirmed landscape as the predominant language that I would need to express myself.
Since then I have been inspired by many land and urban-scapes around the world, particularly those of southern Europe. My work has evolved to a point where I am driven to communicate the wonder of things I have seen and felt as simply and directly as possible.
Together these paintings tell of a journey that has brought me to a contemporary place where landscape is not a vista but a powerful interpretation of a personal view.
© Copyright 2024 Thirza Kotzen
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