Bushman imagery and its impact on the visual constructs of Pippa skotnes

Abstract

This dissertation explores the impact of Bushman images, and the writings of Lucy Lloyd and Wilhelm Bleek (working with the Breakwater Bushmen) on three art works of Pippa Skotnes. They are The Return III (1988), For //Kunn (1993) and Heaven’s Things (1999). It is argued that Bushman imagery, being the result of shamanic trance activities is characterised by imagery, which mammals universally share. The use of the same imagery by the Surrealists in the twentieth century arises not from an intimate interaction with the spirit realm/dream world but from the European longing for an altered reality. Skotnes appropriates Bushman imagery in her prints, narrating the tragic fate of the Bushman. She laments the loss of the transcendental relationship between Man and the Universe. The exploitation, adoption and marketing of Bushman imagery by the tourist industry marks the distinction between her respectful treatment and the materialism of South Africans.