Navigating grief through contemporary commemorative art practice in the form of graphic tapestries

Stairways and Ruins

Abstract

In this article, I discuss my artistic praxis following the production of two artworks, DVR (2023) and NVR (2023), exhibited for the themed exhibition, Stairways and Ruins, held at the North-West University (NWU) Gallery in 2023. These artworks function as a diptych – documenting, celebrating, and sharing information about my late parents. The significance of this practiceled research is found in the rhizomatic approach as a means to pay homage to them by creating “graphic tapestries”, which consist of printed paper weavings that portray visual timelines, comprising many photographs and blocks of personal information in each artwork. These are compared with works by Christina Thompson (Burial shroud 2019) and Lynette Diergaardt (Distraction 2015) to situate my works as contemporary commemorative art, drawing parallels and highlighting contrasts in the use of weaving in griefbased work. My artworks and research provide a unique perspective in contemporary commemorative art, through a rhizomatic and novel approach to combining mixed media in weaving.