Meet-in-the-making: Colijn Strydom collaborates with 50ty/50ty

WORDS Celeste Jacobs

The razing of the palace is a limited edition screen print of 25 available in A3. Colijn Strydom and 50ty/50ty’s Jeanne Legrand share more about how it came about here.

“We’ve always enjoyed his work, but his recent direction really caught – and held – our attention,” says 50ty/50ty’s Creative Director Jeanne Legrand. The Meet-in-the-making collaboration draws inspiration from artists’ sketchbooks and their creative processes during lockdown. “Colijns work, subject matter and approach presented wonderful overlaps in that vision.”

Here’s what Colijn had to say about this experience and how his process unfolds and continues to evolve.

Can you share some insights into your sketchbook project and how it evolved?

Beauty Terror Pentheus is the umbrella term for a project I’m engaged in that involves drawing, painting, photography, possibly ceramics and performance. I’m taking on Euripides’ classic play The Bacchae and weaving in elements of my own life. I wanted to find a way, through art-making, to think about gender fluidity but also, importantly, about whiteness (Ancient Greek and Roman culture are commonly regarded as the bastions of Western civilisation, and hence central to the construction of whiteness).

The performance photographs arose out of a need to situate myself within the play as directly as possible. I was surprised and encouraged by what arose and I’ve been developing and playing with the ideas since.

What was it like to collaborate on Meet-in-the-making?

It was a wonderful experience and an honour to collaborate with 50ty/50ty. I have so much respect for them as artists as well as master printmakers, and our conversations and interactions were very inspirational. Being an artist, one often works alone, and it was refreshing to my own practice to be able to engage with others in a creative process.

What emotions do your creations tap into?

The Bacchae is a rich text and the emotions in it range from love, lust, vengefulness and madness to tenderness, hope and regret.

What are you looking forward to next?

I am looking forward to developing Beauty Terror Pentheus to the best of my ability. It still has got a way to go, so for now, I’m staying focused on the path I’m on.

Keep up with the latest from Colijn on Instagram. To buy the limited edition screen print The razing of the palace visit the 50ty/50ty website.