I would like to tease out a few threads from the fabric of the work on
the display.The first is a fundamental belief in the democracy of pain. The
curator of my retrospective, A Prospect of Icons, says my work
reiterates how awful pain is.
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The title of Mason's show is drawn from her essay in a book
dedicated to Heather Martienssen by her former students and
colleagues, In her essay Mason reflects on the use of religious
imagery in painting, a cornerstone of her own work, particularly
in regard to Christianity and eastern religions.
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By Philippa Hobbs and Emile Maurice, with contributions from Nhlanhla Ngwenya.
While Mason's work draws extensively
on religion, it is also informed by
her exploration of mythological
creatures. Animals like the leopard,
hyena, ape and monkey feature
widely in Mason's work, and one
understanding of them is that they
symbolise our lower instincts.
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Edited from the original text which appeared in JUDITH MASON:
a prospect of icons catalogue.
Art historian Karin Skawran talks to Judith Mason about her commission, Walking with and away from Dante: an installation created by the artist in response to Dante's Divine Comedy . The work consists of three large painted panels and a series of three-dimensional mobile totems, carved by the collector who commissioned the work, and painted by Judith Mason.
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