An exhibition of drawings invites viewers to explore the fluidity of space and the art of deep seeing
It is a hot summer’s morning early in October, Joburg, and the opening of Ruby Onyinyechi Amanze’s show Light Blue Violet, at the Goodman Gallery.
These Saturday pre-lunch openings are such a treat because you can always expect the unexpected — and I’m not only talking about the art, where that is a given.
In addition to the usual fascinating arty bohemians, a group of people with yoga mats have just walked in, after what I assume was an intense workout nearby.
There’s no better way to cruise into your weekend than enjoying art with a bubbly mimosa cocktail.
Amanze, who is of Nigerian descent and British upbringing, is based in Philadelphia in the US.
Over the past decade, she has been building the cast of characters and structural elements that populate her practice — her art usually takes the form of drawings on paper.
It draws inspiration from photography, textiles, architecture and printmaking, building around questions of how to create drawings that maintain paper’s essential quality of weightlessness.
As I walk into the gallery, I see the communications lead whisper something to Amanze and she turns to look at me.
I don’t pry, I just pick up my pace and walk to the entrance where she embraces me.
Her accent is very British. I can’t wait for her to give us a traditional walkabout, so I can hear more of it.
She does not. Instead, she opens the exhibition by encouraging “deep seeing”, a term inspired by deep listening, a concept invented by the American experimental composer and scholar Pauline Oliveros.
Deep listening came from her childhood fascination with sounds and from her work in concert music with composition, improvisation and electroacoustics.
Oliveros describes it as “a way of listening in every possible way to everything possible to hear, no matter what you are doing.
“Such intense listening includes the sounds of daily life, of nature, of one’s own thoughts as well as musical sounds.”
With deep seeing, the objective is not to see the work merely at surface level, but to really see it, and find a deeper meaning that resonates with you.
“Deep seeing was not a theme for making the work; it was more how I envisioned the work being experienced,” the 42-year-old Amanze explains.
That was a challenge because a lot of the time, art can be complex and difficult to interpret, over and above what you are actually seeing. So, having an artist give you the power to interpret the work as you wish was a bit daunting.
The light walls at the spacious Goodman Gallery help make this possible — actually seeing the eight large works as they are. The space really does encourage deep seeing.
Through this lens of deep seeing, Amanze hopes to provide audiences an opportunity to feel more connected, not just to the art but to their own experiences and emotions.
It’s an invitation to step away from the fast-paced world and immerse oneself in quiet contemplation.
After looking at her pieces, I get a chance to sit and chat to Amanze on a charcoal couch set in the middle of the gallery.
Mimosa in hand, she drinks in the Joburg atmosphere.
“I have missed Joburg. I think about being in the city, so it feels good to be back,” she says.
“My last show at the gallery here was in 2015 and my last time visiting was 2017 … so it’s been a while.”
Amanze’s work is themed around space, architecture and movement.
“I have been working with the ongoing theme of space and how to play with space. The origin of space as a theme is that I have been an immigrant twice over.”
Hers is a story that many Africans can relate to.
“I am from many places, and I have homes in many places, and I have moved so that perspective shapes everything, especially when it comes to land and people.
“There is some element of make-believe in that too — some element of play, when it relates to space as a theme,” she says.
Many South Africans can relate to the theme of space as well. We see and experience the effects of spatial planning every single day, a concept the apartheid government used to relegate black, coloured and Indian people to townships.
Space as a theme is broad, and can be interpreted in many different ways, which Amanze encourages with deep seeing.
I can’t help but wonder how she de-stresses, especially when dealing with such important and delicate themes every day, so I ask.
“I am an athlete,” she replies.
“That’s another side of the space thing — being aware of my physical body, as well as the movements of my body.”
The connection between her physicality and her creative process runs deep, as both pursuits offer her a form of balance.
“My sports and athleticism come in — it is a counterbalance for me to the studio. It is nice to have that space but also it somehow feels the same,” she says.
Her process is driven by composition and by the relationships between recurring elements —shapes, textures and colours from previous works that find new connections in each iteration.
“Because it is an ongoing body of work, I always have a starting place.
“The drawings are a continuation, they have the same elements from the previous body of work. So, having the elements and the palette, I always ask myself, ‘What relationships can I form?’” the artist says.
As she exhibits her work in Johannesburg, she brings with her a reminder that sometimes seeing is not about looking harder, but about opening yourself to new ways of experiencing the world.
Light Blue Violet is on show until 16 November.