Carol Preston

Carol Preston is a BA Honours, Fine Art student at the University of Pretoria.

“In my art practice I construct Skins as objects that grow and change.

Ideas of metamorphosis are central in my work.

The object is often the residue left behind from any form of transference. In this transition the host leaves behind an object which can be skin, scales, scars, wounds, debris, cuts, residue, or shedding which is independent from the host. The objects are always non-specific and are deliberately constructed so that they are non-representational but retain their own sovereignty and dignity. My intention is to present these objects together in an installation scenario where they separate, but part of a group.

Each object has memory embedded in its structure. Because the objects are not clearly recognizable and representative of something, the viewer is forced to draw on their own collective experience to decode the sight which is subjective and emotional. The viewer’s experience of the objects, separate and collectively makes them part of the artwork. 

The work of El Anantsui, Nicholas Hlobo, Jackson Hlungwane, the basket work of Andries Botha and Sopheap Pich, the lyrical installations of Gabriel Orozco, the scarification marks of Hans Hartung and the perception driven sculpture of Jesus Rafael Soto influences me in my making process. 

I want my objects to be experimental, incomplete, hostile and vulnerable.”