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Paul Edmunds

Recent Woodcut, 2021

The work begins with a Lego sculpture I made in 2015.  From the interaction of simple waveforms, or zig-zags, results a complex, unpredictable topography.


Paul Edmunds
b. 1970
Johannesburg, South Africa


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Recent Woodcuts, 2021

'The work begins with a Lego sculpture I made in 2015.  From the interaction of simple waveforms, or zig-zags, results a complex, unpredictable topography. I was thinking then about Wade Davis' famous Wayfindersbook, in which he describes the ancient navigational techniques of Polynesian sailors, or 'wayfinders'. Using only their senses, they distinguish between different sorts of waves and discern by their nature and direction which, for example, are reflected off landmasses not yet visible over the horizon. From such sensory information they assemble a highly detailed and accurate knowledge of their environment.

But in the end, the print is really an exercise in some very rudimentary carving on my part and Georgina Berens' expertise in printing and registration, as well as her ability to colour-match the green of my favourite corduroy trousers. Jake Aikman's most compelling seascapes in the studio clearly exert some kind of a pull too.' – Paul Edmunds, 2021

Paul Edmunds was born in 1970 in Johannesburg, and lives in Cape Town. He graduated with an MAFA (cum laude) from the University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, in 1996.

His first solo show at Cape Town’s WhatiftheWorld was presented in 2015. He previously showed at Stevenson in 2013, 2011 and 2009. Earlier shows included Aggregate at Bank Gallery, Durban (2008); Array at Art on Paper in Johannesburg (2007); Phenomena (2005), Cloud (2003) and Houding (2001) at João Ferreira Gallery, Cape Town; Scale (1999) and Once, again at the Mark Coetzee Fine Art Cabinet, Cape Town. He had his first US solo exhibition at RH Gallery, New York, in 2011.

Edmunds was included on Impressions from South Africaat MoMA, New York, in 2011, and onProduction Marks: Geometry, psychology and the electronic ageat the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown, KZNSA Gallery in Durban and Goethe-Institut in Johannesburg (2007/8).

He won the Tollman Award in 2007, and the Volkskas Atelier Award in 1992. In 2010 he was awarded an Ampersand Foundation residency in New York.

He has produced large-scale commissions for Nando’s headquarters in Johannesburg, (2014), MTN’s headquarters in Roodepoort, Johannesburg (2005), and for the Arabella Sheraton Hotel on Cape Town’s foreshore in 2003, among other commissions.

Works

Wayfinder
Six-layer woodcut on Zerkall Litho, 270 gsm
Paper size: 70 x 60 cm
Image size: 60.5 x 40.5 cm
Edition of 20 
R14 000

Process

©2021 South Atlantic Press