Artist Residency at Bag Factory Studios, Johannesburg, 2000.
I was living in one of Johannesburg’s original white suburbs, Parktown a place where no-one walked and the opulent houses sealed off with extreme security measures resulted in a form of self-imprisonment. The exterior of my installation echoes the suburb with its Parktown colours, its fortress type look and the gardens extending onto the pavements.
I walked to the Bag Factory studios in downtown Johannesburg each day to discover the streets full of people. Newtown was crowded with mosques, apartment buildings, shops, businesses. I used a variety of everyday materials that related to my experiences within the city. I saw women carrying large see-through bags of coloured corn snacks which they sold on in smaller quantities to pay school fees.
I wove wool around the obligatory grill on the window allowing me a constant view of the city life as I worked.
susan leask 