I think I’m a good person, 2026
Photo transfers, acetone prints, recycled fabric, collage, Plaster of Paris
9 Part: 126 x 104 cm
Artist’s Statement
I think I’m a good person is a single body of work consisting of gel medium photo transfers and acetone prints on recycled fabric which have been collaged onto sheets of Plaster of Paris. Each individual sheet occupies space as a single panel which forms part of the work much like the separate stanzas of a poem comprise it in its entirety. The photomontages assert themselves through found images detailing my mother’s life to create a narrative pertaining to all of which remains of her. The name of the work itself captures one of the final statements she made in her suicide note.
The work documents spaces in time by looking into place and state. Each panel archives a place my mother once physically occupied, and the state of her body creates a dynamic impression of her turmoil. The set of specifically curated events capture personal experiences of loss, addiction, neglect and assault via a biographical lens. Symbols allude to loss created by conscription during apartheid as well as the resulting moments of vulnerability that culminate in power imbalances. I have collected my mother’s being delicately and incased it in the sort of harshness that only an artefact may hold.
