Artwork in Mother Nature
JOBURG - Within a section of Johannesburg Botanical Gardens lies a peculiar art piece that represents a different meaning to what the eye sees at first glance. "The art symbolises human reflections on the earth," the representative of Johannesburg Botanical Gardens Sandra Viljoen stated.
“The artwork brings awareness to the community that we need to take care of each other as that also affects our nature. We need to realise how precious earth is, and the materials that were used on the art piece are all organic and were found around the Botanical Gardens area,” Viljoen said.
According to artist Lew Rosenberg, the cloth art piece is a female form symbolising Mother Nature. There are stars on the back netting and the hands are replaced by a star. Therefore, she is creating from the star and holding the star up to her bosom, nurturing her creation.
“The theme to my art piece is in retaliation to the recent xenophobic attacks experienced in South Africa. We are all made of stars, everything and everyone is made the same and of the same atomic partials.”
Although the individual is important and individuality is admired in the modern world, striving to be an individual can lead to inflated egos, insensitivity, loss of empathy and a loss of compassion for others, he said.
“It is also important that one must not forget the collective, that we are all connected. What we do affects others, how we treat each other and how we treat the environment affects others in the present and future,” Rosenberg said.
