Strauss & co - Wits Art Museum

12 WITS ARTS MUSEUM ENDOWMENT AUCTION 3 Penny Siopis (b.1953) Cloud Ink and glue on canvas 51 x 76,2 cm 2011 Donated by the artist R40 000 – 60 000 Cloud is a mixed media work on canvas that reflects Siopis’ long-standing interest in form and formlessness. The viscerally red wash of paint that hovers over a crawling figure is purposefully ambiguous: Is it merely an abstract staining? Or could it be a signal of danger? If danger is present, could this red ‘cloud’then be read as a protective veil? In her work Siopis often makes references to historical catastrophes, yet rather than focusing on an illustrative depiction of such events, Siopis attempts to find a more delicate, personal or ephemeral visual language. Her art-making process relies on a balance between control and chaos. She writes, ‘I am fascinated by the strangeness, openness and vitality of this choreography of chance and control, which offers extraordinary scope for new ways of associating and imagining.’Siopis is Honorary Professor at the Michaelis School of Fine Art. Her work is well represented in local museum collections and she has exhibited consistently and extensively locally and internationally.  PPS