Trauma as a borderland concept in contemporary South African painting
Date
2010-08-25
Authors
Webster, Jessica
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Abstract
Abstract
In this report I explore trauma as a concept in contemporary painting. I interpret certain
South African paintings that assert the affective dimension of the painted surface as
particularly compelling manifestations of a concept of trauma. I frame my discussion in
terms of Mark Seltzer’s (1997:5) theory of trauma as a ‘borderland concept’. I see
Seltzer’s concept as analogous to certain formal values these South African paintings
deploy in relation to the painted surface, primarily the tension between materiality and
iconography, form and formlessness, figure and ground and surface and depth. I draw on
aspects of psychoanalytic theory and discourses on contemporary painting to support my
discussion. I analyze selected paintings by Marlene Dumas and Penny Siopis within this
framework. I also discuss my own paintings and Masters exhibition as pertaining to a
concept of trauma. I argue that trauma as a borderland concept offers a means of
appraising contemporary painting in a way that resists an overly semantic or purely
perceptual interpretation.