Artists We Love: Georgina Berens

INTERVIEWED BY Lindi Brownell Meiring

Local printmaker and artist Georgina Berens talks to VISI about being creative, her residency in Finland, how cities inspire her and her recent foray into oil painting.

When did you know you wanted to become an artist? 

I have no idea. I struggle a bit with the term artist. I like using my hands and putting things together – a good meal, an item of clothing, a print – but what am I actually contributing to society? I’m not sure what the answer is. I recently read an interview where Hertzog was asked what he thinks the purpose of art is. His reply: “I have never asked myself such a question. I only know that the work of great poets and artists does not change the course of my life. But it makes it better.” When asked how, he replied: “Just write that it makes my life BETTER. And make sure you spell it with capital letters.” It feels good to make things, and I think that it makes my life better. I come from a family of avid “makers”. My mom Ange is a designer and my dad Chris is a cartographer. My mom claims that she put a crayon in my hand as soon as I could make a fist, and they both really always made sure that I had tools and space to create and continue to inspire me with the things that they do. I think that growing up in this environment ultimately led to me studying art, but I don’t remember making a decision to make art.

You describe yourself as an urban(art)ist, someone who’s drawn to the city. How does this inspire the work you create?

The city is full of traces and marks that point to lived experiences. I am interested in how things like graffiti, a hole a fence, a scrape on a wall… expose the individual within the city space. Marks, or even ephemeral things like shadows, that even just for a moment say: I was here. I like walking in the city and spotting these things.

What do you love about printmaking?

I like how printmaking connects to and resonates with the marks and traces that I am drawn to in the city space. I also like how, within printmaking, you can experiment with different mediums – sculpture, painting, drawing, photography. It’s limitless and timeless. It appeals to my nerdy side with all the science and tools involved in the different processes. My favourite printmaking process is stone lithography – where an image is made on the surface of a block of limestone and then printed onto paper. In this lengthy process you play with how water and grease repel one another. It still fascinates me and feels like witchcraft every time I pull a print.

Tell us more about your artist residency in Finland. How did this experience come about and how has it benefited you since?

Finland is one of the strangest and most beautiful places that I have ever been to and it’s also one of my favourite places in the world. I knew that I wanted to go back after my first visit in 2012 and applied for a residency at Ratamo in Jyväskylä, Finland and was accepted for 2017. The residency is offered to one artist a year for the month of October. The studio is brilliantly equipped for all kinds of photography and printmaking techniques. I produced seven editions of single-colour stone lithographs in the month that I was there. Some of these will be exhibited in Finland and they will also be coming home with me so I will show them in Cape Town at some point.

The prints are all figurative crayon drawings and many of them depict shelters that are held up by nature. A treehouse, a makeshift tent, a stack of logs. They appeal to the inner child in one that wants to make a fort but also make one think of growth, change and shelter.

It’s always good to get out of your comfort zone a bit. To see how other people live, and be pushed around by nature. Although I only had a month at Ratamo, I had enough time to relax and focus on drawing, processing and printing and also plenty of time to explore. I am surprised by the prints. I was able to relax and play and I think some exciting things happened because of this. The lovely thing about lithography is that you never stop learning new little tricks and it was amazing to have a month to experiment and learn.

You’ve recently delved into oil painting. What are you enjoying most about exploring this new medium?

Honestly – painting terrifies me. I sit with a brush in my hand not knowing when to stop or what I am doing and it’s scary but also thrilling. I’m working with strange icy greens right now. There are so many colours in the snowy Finnish landscape that we just don’t see in SA. I’m in a place called Sallatunturi at the moment – that’s in Lapland and above the Arctic Circle. The snow is unreal and the sky is opalesque. The landscape is a painting with not just black and white but so many neutral tones, greens, blues, purples and soft greys. I am like an excited child. I guess the thing that I am enjoying most about painting is the excitement and the immediacy of it. The yummy textures and smells of the thick paint. I think I will keep painting.

What are your plans for 2018?

I am very lucky to have a job that I love. As manager at Chandler House on Church Street, I assist the wonderful Michael Chandler with his various projects, the shop and the workings of the Voorkamer Gallery. A gallarina, if you like. I spend my days surrounded by beautiful things but I also do a lot of admin work, which appeals to the side of me that loves stationery, technology and order. Printmaking and other things (basically making curry) appeal to the side of me that needs to keep making. With less order. After the residency I am full of ideas of prints that I want to make and mediums like carving and weaving that I would like to explore more. I also teach art to kids. I love kids and I love the way that they see the world and the beautiful things that they make and say.

For more information about Georgina and her work, visit georginaberens.com.