Collection: Sisonke Gallery
'North Bound': From the Overberg to Tunisia, Rentia Retief's new solo exhibition at Sisonke Gallery charts a journey of belonging
This body of work was born from a transformative experience: an artist residency in Tunisia, on the northernmost tip of the African continent. North Bound brings together works made during that residency and in its aftermath, alongside paintings inspired by recent travels through the Northern Cape and Limpopo.
Underpinning the exhibition is the concept of saudade - a Portuguese word describing a melancholic longing for something lost or perhaps never had in the first place. This sensibility permeates the works on show, from the hazy coastal architecture of a Tunisian port town dissolving into water and light, to the storm-laden skies above South Africa’s mountain ranges and the vast, shimmering expanse of open sea.
Many of these works were made en plein air (in the open air, on-site rather than in a studio) where natural elements like wind, soil and shifting light actively contribute to the process.