ELLA CRONJé

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ELLA CRONJé
October 25, 2017 | By Rust-en-Vrede Gallery, Uncategorized

FABEL

– Opening on 14 November at 19h00

FABEL

Recent works by Ella Cronjé

Rust and Vrede Gallery, Durbanville

Artist’s Statement

I recently rediscovered ‘The Velveteen Rabbit’ written in 1922 by Margery Williams and simultaneously read ‘To the Lighthouse’ by Virginia Woolf. In her book, Woolf mentioned a fable: The old man and the sea. Reading these two books sparked the idea to research fables and fairy tales in general, origins and meanings as well as the relevance of fables and fairytales in our contemporary world. In doing so, the conceptual background and overarching theme for my exhibition Fabel at Rust and Vrede gallery was born.

Countless fairy tales with infinite variations, usually conveying moral, social or political lessons through skillful narrative and interesting characters, have existed worldwide throughout history. For example, the fables of Aesop, provided a basis for so many contemporary moral narratives. The evergreen tales have lived on for more than two millennia, exemplifying extraordinary power and longevity. Other early influences on our current day literary tradition, for example, Cinderella stories (distressed damsels losing diminutive footwear) are also to be found in the literature of ancient Egypt and ninth-century China.

Personally, what I found most interesting is that it seems that all of humanity basically shares the same underlying psychological make-up – history as an account of mental life.

According to Marina Warner (author of Once Upon a Time): “fairy tales are gradually turning into myths. Paradoxically, in our day, it is adults who seem to most need and use them, because they are just about the only stories we have in common with which to think through deep dilemmas and to keep alive registers of emotion and imagination otherwise being eroded. The fairy tale now must carry an unprecedented burden of significance, and it is not surprising that modern versions – retellings or radical rewritings, like those of Angela Carter – produce a darker, more complex, less resolved narrative environment than hitherto”.

Personally, I have never outgrown my childhood fascination with monsters and imaginary creatures/friends. These imaginary creatures have always formed an integral part of my life in one-way or another. They represent my dreams, desires, questions, and fears; made visible through notions that I often have no words to express or comprehend. However, I now am able to revisit and view them through adult eyes and analyze them with recently acquired knowledge. Many the original intended moral values/lessons of these fables are now clearly questionable and dubious in meaning. A poignant example is the childhood fable of ‘Little Red Riding Hood’. As an educated adult woman I now possess the ability to question the true meaning/intent of this fable: do I really want to be a helpless little girl who needs male protection and/or am I too afraid to explore outside the boundaries which, in my opinion, are the a result of a strictly patriarchal upbringing?

Many of the narratives I researched resulted in revisiting old personal fears. As an artist, I now have the voice/tools to confront and work with these fears, dreams and desires in my creative process and output. In the light of the above, my ceramic sculpture Amut and Sobek is a good example. I prefer not to disclose the actual intended message of this work, as it is deeply personal and private. I would actually rather want the viewer to apply any possible readings and conceptual messages of the work to their own lives after studying the story of Amut and Sobek. There are many of these fables, fairytales and stories I will continue to research in my future work with the hope of discovering more deeply personal subconscious fragments rising to the surface of my own being.