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As far back as I can remember I always loved drawing. The copper-mining
community I grew up in Zambia did not have too many outlets for artistic
creativity, apart from the Home Industries section of the annual National
Agricultural & Horticultural Show. So, over the years I accumulated a heap of
“Certificates of Honour” and a few Fine Art trophies from that Home Industries
category, but it was only when one of my paintings was selected to be exhibited
in a Child Art Exhibition in Germany in 1956, that my family began to take my
art more seriously. I remember too the excitement when the National Art Gallery
in Harare, Zimbabwe purchased my painting during the Third Federal Art
Exhibition in 1960. But I have also, always, been a rebel, passionately
independent and defiant of authority. So when I was expelled from High School
for bad behavior, my parents did not consider art to be a suitable career. I
was sent to England to be a nurse but was expelled in the second year, chiefly
because I was caught, too often, returning late to the “digs”. In desperation
my parents enrolled me at Durban Technical College to study art. In my second
year, I received an Arthur May bursary and Certificate of Award and graduated
with Honours as a Fine Art teacher. But the restrictive conditions of
employment at South African schools at the time put me off even trying to get
employment at one of them. I joined a religious community for the next 13
years, and enjoyed the freedom to express in art my outrage at the injustices
prevalent in the country. Then, just when the family had gotten used to
explaining that nun picture on the mantelpiece, I quit and finally became a
free-lance professional artist. And this is how I continue to live. Here are
three works: a 2005 linocut, a 1980 poster and a woodcut from 1989.


When I left the Carmelite monastery in 1977, South Africa was smouldering in its
apartheid policies everywhere. Through my religious contacts I was able to make
a living producing church art – I never advertised, it was all by word of mouth
that I received commission after commission. However, my patrons, the mission
churches and socio-political NGOs, were always cash-strapped so I could not
afford to refuse a commission. Thus my artistic capabilities were stretched to
limits that I most probably would not have ventured into otherwise. And it has
been a wonderful exhilarating journey, experiencing the excitement and tension
between discovering which media works well for you and which threatens to
destroy you.
Over the years I have also realized my three great passions – art, theology and
feminism. In a sense I believe my artworks have always been a series of
interconnections with all three dimensions. Although my growth into feminism
was certainly accelerated through my intense concern for political justice and
an end to oppression in this country, I believe the catalyst came in the ‘80s
when my theological studies began to focus on the religious injustice and
oppression of women in the church.
The title of my dissertation, “The visual portrayal of Mary Magdalene, a case
study in feminist ethical issues” expressed in essence what my own art was
attempting to address – to reclaim women’s rightful position in society,
religious and political. As part of my research I began to deliberately
re-image the women in the scriptures. When I first exhibited 24 miniature
watermedia paintings entitled “In Praise of Biblical Heroines” in 1986 the
impact was phenomenal. First, I was branded as “evil” by the religious
authorities, but more significantly, everyone else raved about them. I searched
out more and more heroines to celebrate and honour from the scriptures as well
as historical and legendary accounts. The paintings took on a dimension of
affirmation for many women. I was overwhelmed by the extent of enthusiastic
response which came to me from women nationally and internationally. I called
the series of paintings “in celebration of women”, a number of them were printed
as postcards, greeting cards, posters and banners. The series also included
South African women activists. My intention throughout was to reclaim our
heroic ancestors, to celebrate sisterhood for empowerment. The images have
always been deliberately didactic, as I wanted them to be accessible to all. I
learnt the efficacy of storytelling in church art, where the viewer must always
be able to identify the good person in contrast to the evil one!