Judy Woodborne, born 1966, South Africa Search this
Medium:
Etching and aquatint on paper
Dimensions:
H x W: 68.6 x 99.1 cm (27 x 39 in.)
Type:
Print
Geography:
South Africa
Date:
1994
Series:
12/30
Label Text:
"This work is comprised of two parts--the tightrope walkers (funambulists) in the top print and the jugglers (loculatores) contained in the boat. . . . the forms encompass some of the themes of carnival; that of the inversion of form--combining human and animal forms, the child representing birth or renewal. . . . A variety of absurdities occur simultaneously, but the overriding impression is that of a Ship of Fools, leaving shore to venture into the unknown in search of a destiny. The ship is also a reference to colonization, those ships of an opposite destiny filled with knowledge of a civilized society."
Woodborne, Judy. 1993. "A Graphic Interpretation of Aspects of the Nature of Folly and Its Ritualized Form Represented by Carnival." MA thesis, University of Capetown.
Description:
Etching and aquatint on paper in two parts. The first features four rectangular panels which are read from left to right. In the first, there are: a dog with a human face; a jester who is identified by his horned cap; and a dog sitting on a decorated drum. The dog's forelegs terminate in talons clutching balls. A large fish dominates the foreground. In the second panel, there are: a mask, a bird with a pig's snout and human fingers sitting on a rope; and an infant perched atop a pole. Around the infant's wrist is a rope. In the third panel, a pair of muzzled dogs are running, one behind the other. The first dog's face is that of a human/jester. Beneath them, but not touched by them, a rope extends diagonally to the wrist of the infant in the previous panel. In the fourth panel, a fisherman/jester is depicted with his catch--an eye. He hovers above a female figure tightrope walker who is dismembered under a canopy or skirt. The tightrope extends diagonally to the second panel. A threatening sky and choppy sea appear in the background of each panel. The second part of the two-part etching depicts a ship whose form resembles a ring at the circus. The ship carries water as well as humans, animals, and/or objects, e.g., a horse/hobby horse, a skirted half-figure walking a tight rope, a dog walking a tightrope on its hindlegs and holding a ball, a revolving padlewheel from which male figures emerge or drown; one of the figures holds the ball with the dog. There are fish and a handcrank at one end (right side) of the ship.
In the second panel, there are: a mask, a bird with a pig's snout and human fingers sitting on a rope; and an infant perched atop a pole. Around the infant's wrist is a rope. In the third panel, a pair of muzzled dogs are running, one behind the other. The first dog's face is that of a human/jester. Beneath them, but not touched by them, a rope extends diagonally to the wrist of the infant in the previous panel. In the fourth panel, a fisherman/jester is depicted with his catch--an eye. He hovers above a female figure tightrope walker who is dismembered under a canopy or skirt. The tightrope extends diagonally to the second panel. A threatening sky and choppy sea appear in the background of each panel. The second part of the two-part etching depicts a ship whose form resembles a ring at the circus. The ship carries water as well as humans, animals, and/or objects, e.g., a horse/hobby horse, a skirted half-figure walking a tight rope, a dog walking a tightrope on its hindlegs and holding a ball, a revolving padlewheel from which male figures emerge or drown; one of the figures holds the ball with the dog. There are fish and a handcrank at one end (right side) of the ship.
In the third panel, a pair of muzzled dogs are running, one behind the other. The first dog's face is that of a human/jester. Beneath them, but not touched by them, a rope extends diagonally to the wrist of the infant in the previous panel. In the fourth panel, a fisherman/jester is depicted with his catch--an eye. He hovers above a female figure tightrope walker who is dismembered under a canopy or skirt. The tightrope extends diagonally to the second panel. A threatening sky and choppy sea appear in the background of each panel. The second part of the two-part etching depicts a ship whose form resembles a ring at the circus. The ship carries water as well as humans, animals, and/or objects, e.g., a horse/hobby horse, a skirted half-figure walking a tight rope, a dog walking a tightrope on its hindlegs and holding a ball, a revolving padlewheel from which male figures emerge or drown; one of the figures holds the ball with the dog. There are fish and a handcrank at one end (right side) of the ship.
In the fourth panel, a fisherman/jester is depicted with his catch--an eye. He hovers above a female figure tightrope walker who is dismembered under a canopy or skirt. The tightrope extends diagonally to the second panel. A threatening sky and choppy sea appear in the background of each panel. The second part of the two-part etching depicts a ship whose form resembles a ring at the circus. The ship carries water as well as humans, animals, and/or objects, e.g., a horse/hobby horse, a skirted half-figure walking a tight rope, a dog walking a tightrope on its hindlegs and holding a ball, a revolving padlewheel from which male figures emerge or drown; one of the figures holds the ball with the dog. There are fish and a handcrank at one end (right side) of the ship.
The tightrope extends diagonally to the second panel. A threatening sky and choppy sea appear in the background of each panel. The second part of the two-part etching depicts a ship whose form resembles a ring at the circus. The ship carries water as well as humans, animals, and/or objects, e.g., a horse/hobby horse, a skirted half-figure walking a tight rope, a dog walking a tightrope on its hindlegs and holding a ball, a revolving padlewheel from which male figures emerge or drown; one of the figures holds the ball with the dog. There are fish and a handcrank at one end (right side) of the ship.
The second part of the two-part etching depicts a ship whose form resembles a ring at the circus. The ship carries water as well as humans, animals, and/or objects, e.g., a horse/hobby horse, a skirted half-figure walking a tight rope, a dog walking a tightrope on its hindlegs and holding a ball, a revolving padlewheel from which male figures emerge or drown; one of the figures holds the ball with the dog. There are fish and a handcrank at one end (right side) of the ship.
Exhibition History:
Claiming Art / Reclaiming Space: Post Apartheid Art from South Africa, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., June 21-September 26, 1999
Published References:
Woodborne, Judy. 1993. "A Graphic Interpretation of Aspects of the Nature of Folly and Its Ritualized Form Represented by Carnival." MA thesis, University of Capetown.
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