Natalie Payne has put together an art exhibition that shows the uglier side of life – grief and pain.
Payne is an established South African photographer with a great background in the industry.
“I am a freelance photographer and photography teacher living and working in Johannesburg. I have photographed portraiture, fashion and editorial assignments for local and international magazines as well as campaigns for ad agencies,” said Payne.
“I am currently working towards completing a Masters in Fine Art at Wits University with my body of work centred on notions of suburbia, domestic space, identity and loss. I teach fashion photography at Lisof, a fashion design college and facilitate a number of courses at the Market Photo Workshop in Newtown.”
Encountering Windrift is her new exhibition, now open at The Point of Order gallery in Braamfontein, which is set to run until 27 June.
The solo exhibition came as a way to cope with a tragic loss to the artist.
“This exhibition, the culmination of a series of photographs made between 2012 and 2017, embodies the period of grief, mourning and adjustment prior to and for several years after the passing of my mother. While my process was driven initially by a motivation to come to terms with this specific loss, this body of work also reflects on notions of loss associated with the passage of time,” she said.
Explaining the rationale behind Encountering Windrift she explained, “The exhibition explores the complexity of suburbia where ideas of life as comfortable, clean and ordered easily slip into discomfort, sadness and perhaps even failure and unrealized expectations. ‘Windrift’, the name of my childhood home, refers to the relentless winds that batter the suburb of Pinelands.
Payne hopes to relay a message to the audience that talks about grief and overcoming it over time – the journey through which the process has taken her.
“By working through this personal trauma in my photographic practice, I see the photographs as offering a potential for a way of interrelating and communicating with others,” said Payne.
Don’t miss the exhibition at the corner of Bertha and Stiemens Street in Braamfontein.
Details: The Point of Order on Facebook
