"For Faith and Country" Diptyche by Lynda Cookson
Resist
& Recover
Words
by Gary Scott©
Refusing
to accept the
Emptiness
Searching
for life obstructing the
Injustice
of
Sorrow
and
Tragedy
Round
here around the corner an
Emotional
strength
Coming
together
Over-riding
all
Violence
is
Everlasting
then
Relief
of pain
Farewell
to the red stained rains
A
pair of white crosses left in the trails
Of
labour
and love
Looking
up to
Blue
skies
A
homestead empty of all love
Empty
of all life
To
resist Death
Is
to recover Life
To
resist Violence,
Is
to recover Peace.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“For Faith and
Country” by Lynda Cookson
Oil on Deep Edge Gallery Wrap Canvas
Diptyche 40.5” x 30”
Theme : The Farm Murders in South
Africa aka * Plaas Moord
As I began to work on this painting, I
kept in mind “Resist Death Recover Life” and “Resist Violence
Recover Peace”
The Feeling behind the
painting:
I'm an artist, not a journalist. It is
my intention to highlight a situation which needs to be looked at,
thought about, and acted upon by the right people.
I didn't want this painting to be
perfect. I wanted it to feel raw. I wanted the viewer to feel the
imperfection. Nothing in life is perfect. There are always raw edges,
vulnerabilities, hard bits, soft bits, hidden bits, and obvious bits.
I wanted the layers of paint, and thus
the layers of my heart and soul which have gone into this creation,
to be evident and visible and tantalising to those who want to look.
I wanted the bottom layers to show through beneath the top layers.
Perfection is predictable and often
glossed over. Imperfection can be alluring and needs to be studied.
I hope the viewer can feel the vitality
of the life in this painting. Vitality is like enthusiasm and is both
infectious and contagious. You're drawn to look and you'd like to
touch.
The Logic behind the
painting:
I felt I wanted to show that South
Africa is very much a part of volatile Africa. That it has a chaos
the boiling mix of Rainbow nations, with their political, cultural
and emotional elements, is causing. That the reminders of Apartheid
South Africa are deeply imprinted on the soul of the nation like
scars.
And yet there is hope. There is a new
dawn every day. There is choice. The country can choose to stay on
the side of dark motives, or choose to move to the side of new dawns.
In particular I chose an old farm
windmill to represent the farm and farmers. Windmills turn with new
winds and refresh the land, its people and its animals, with
life-giving water. However with so many farmers being murdered, the
windmills are slowing and rusting, and instead are spewing out the
blood of farmers lost. The violent death of the farm.
The crosses, although representing the
deaths of farmers also represent the death of the past. They struggle
in harsh conditions to look towards the new dawn and to find Faith
and Hope, but there is still a * koppie of chaos between the sun
peeping over the ridge and the crosses on their lonely hillside.
The backdrop of chaos is represented by
the abstract and energetic strokes that the landscape sits on,
invading the peaceful landscape by pouring down the * koppie. And yet
the new dawn still peeps over the ridge and once more tries to bring
life and hope to the country.
Information:
I began by thinking I would provide a
list of informative sites online for interested people to read. That
didn't pan out well.
I became thoroughly depressed and
realised that I'm not a journalist who can verify all information
before publication. I am an artist whose time is spent expressing
pivotal aspects of life and bringing that expression to the attention
of the public. What the public then does with that expression is
their choice. I have succeeded in my part of the mission if at least
one person is driven to research and read about what I have
highlighted.
Whilst researching the Farm Murders in
South Africa it became evident that the statistics published cannot
be fully accurate as records of these atrocities are not kept in
detail. The murders are horrific in both number and violence. They
reach into the thousands and exhibit depraved and unbelievable
torture.
When is a crime a political crime? When
is a crime a crime for crime's sake?
A radical activist in South Africa
encourages the singing of an inciteful song. His chant is “Kill the
* Boer. Kill the White Man” Here are just a few words of that song:
Ayasab' amagwala (the cowards are
scared)
dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
ayeah
aw dubul'ibhunu (shoot the Boer)
dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
The numbers of farmer murders, since
apartheid was banished in South Africa in 1994, have reached past the
4,000 mark. The violence of those murders is just too terrible for me
to write down.
I urge you to google Farm Murders in
South Africa and to read the information for yourself.
* Plaas Moord. Afrikaans meaning Farm
Murder.
* koppie. A small hill, generally in a
surrounding flat area, in South Africa.
* Boer. Afrikaans word meaning farmer.
Lynda Cookson
March 2018