Karlien van Rooyen

This work is part of Karlien van Rooyen’s exhibition, 'Anamist'.

Says van Rooyen of the inspiration for this work: "It's an ode to the giant Australian centipede, Ethmostigmus rubripes. This beauty bit me on my forehead three times whilst sleeping under a gubbinge tree on Goolarabooloo country. I had previously shared the canopy of ‘starlight-shade’ with two friends, but this night I was alone. Unbeknownst to me, there was a young men’s-business tree growing inside the canopy too. An elder informed me the next morning of my visitor's sharp message to get out of there. I don’t know why I took the dagger for the two boys as well, but three blows to my frontal cortex was the most searing wake-up call I’ve had in my life. I initially thought I dreamt the first bite (because who expects a dagger in your brain in the middle of the wilderness?), but by the third I shot for my torch and found the centipede raised on its hinds like a cobra in front of my face. This venomous arthropod transmits its poison via modified legs, known as foripules, that curve around the head like fangs. It was a sobering sight, and I never slept under that gubbinge without my chaperones again!"

Van Rooyen grew up in the small town of Kommetjie at the foot of a mountain on South Africa’s Cape Point. Affronted by unrelenting ocean storms, the town was also home to a wild and diverse ecosystem. The living space in her house was adorned by an archive of natural objects – whether inherited or collected on hunting and foraging adventures, this trove of objects formed visual imprints on her imagination.

Says van Rooyen of her introduction to clay, “One of my earliest profound memories of childhood is when we went fishing by a dam with my dad and grandfather. My sister and I ran about playing in the shallows and discovered a section of the dam where our tiny feet sank into the silkiest smooth ground. This got my dad’s attention too who also came to play and investigate. With his long arms, he reached into the water and dug out handfuls of clay.

“It might be a bit animist, but to be able to sculpt something from such a basic raw material feels like I can bring another being into the world that comes alive inside the minds of others.”