Reviving rubber

Over 11 million tyres are discarded annually in South Africa. Artist Roche van den Bergh is chipping away at this mound of indestructible rubber one artwork at a time.

Her first solo exhibition Rubber. Recycle. Relove. opens this week at Dorp Gallery in Stellenbosch and is a testament to her attempt at making new items and recreating with the old. The exhibition will present rubber plants, trees and other unique handmade pieces that cannot, as she says, “perish or die like the sensitive surroundings we live in”.

VISI spoke to Roche to find out more about the exhibition.

Why this theme?

To explore the fine balances in life. I have taken something that is seen as rubbish – lifeless and ugly – and given it a new meaning, shaping it to become alive with energy. You can either see the ugly in something that is, or you can see the beauty in what it can become.

What materials were used? 

I use waste tyres and tubes from a variety of vehicles as well as truck shock rubber cylinders and rim rubbers. Anything that jumps out at me on the tyre yards. I also combine the rubber with modern, industrial interior finishes such as mirror, wood and stainless steel, “upcycling” the rubber aesthetically.

Why rubber in particular?

Tyres will be part of human existence for a long time to come. Simply look at rush-hour traffic. The only solution is to recycle the tyres and use the rubber to create anew, like products to build schools and HIV/Aids clinics.

You also make functional rubber decor and furniture items. Tell us more.

I create functional, durable interior pieces such as ottomans, mirrors, jewellery, lighting and other furniture. I always try to use the used, taking the material out of its original context and giving it a new purpose… to live a life of luxury, off the road.

Roche’s pieces can be bought at the exhibition, which runs from 7 – 28 October at 101 Dorp Gallery, Stellenbosch.

More information: www.slee.co.za