Cheryl Gage

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

The research completed for an M.A. Fine Arts determined my visual journey into the articulation of self and its placement in the socio-political landscape of South Africa. Having explored the theme of symbolism in portrait making, I followed up with an interest in the rites of passage that formulate a new identity. This investigation uncovered the notion of living in parallel universes, and my interest shifted from an ego-consciousness to an eco-consciousness. I have since explored the accredited value of life forms that are under threat in my immediate conceptual and physical environment. In each instance of my visual art exploration, the medium of the artist book has served as a supplementary conduit for correlating and articulating my conceptual discoveries. The artist book format in each instance was determined by the iconography of the theme and the medium of the painterly, photographic, or print process of each particular series of artworks.

PROJECT

Title reGENEration
Medium Hardboard, perspex, acrylic, acetate and digital prints
Dimensions 140mm x 140mm x 50mm
Edition Unique
Price Artist’s collection

The book “reGENEration” has eight loose-leafed pages. The pages/tablets are flat squares, and are isometric in the axis of reading. The eight pages denote the four stages of the metamorphosis of the African Monarch Butterfly: pupa, larva, chrysalis, and butterfly; each stage being represented both conceptually and figuratively. The sizing of the page/tablets, the imagery, and the grouping of the information is informed by the Fibonacci numbering: 13, 8, 5, 3, 2,1. The pages of the book are housed in a semi-transparent box, representing the chrysalis state of the butterfly before it takes flight to initiate the whole cycle of regeneration once again.