Mary Sibande talking purple

How would you describe the purple seaweed-like creatures or worms that make up the jungle that swamp the human figure in your new work?

I have recently encountered Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari’s concept of the ‘rhizome’.

They say a rhizome has neither a beginning nor and end, but always a middle.

The philosophers speak about the idea of roots that build up a body. With this work, the ideas of violence are insinuated and yet the violated and the violator are connected.

The figures’ gestures are ambiguous in being neither violent nor defensive, in reference to Francisco Goya’s Fight with Cudgels.

The creatures are Sophie turned inside out. They are a look at intestines, an inspection of the mess within.

This work is about deconstructing the familiar ideas built into my work. In other words, questioning what Sophie, the character, had dreamt of.

The way to make sense of the dreams is to interrogate their nature, their context and how they built themselves up.

In the process of letting go of older ideas of my work, I am opening doors for new challenges.