Not all of us know how to appreciate those delicately realistic portraits of the sun setting on the horizon, or mountains laced with snow; and perhaps the thought of a fine art exhibition leaves you feeling nervous and confused. Peter and Elaine Woodbridge have solved this problem, and brought fun, colourful, light art to festival.
Woo-men are the result of a collaboration between Elaine’s crafting skills and Peter’s illustrating eye; resulting in bright plush toys filled with character and just waiting to be hugged. And no, this is not just for children. Pete describes a lot of his work as an artist as being ‘kidult’- according to the all knowing wiktionary.com, this is a ‘blend of kid and adult: a middle-aged person who participates in youth culture and activities traditionally intended for children”. Or if you want to get fancy, you can look at it from the Latin concept of puer aeternus; the eternal boy or child-god who is forever young. But the point is, it’s virtually impossible to not enjoy this exhibition.
Pete’s works comprise of a mixture of digital illustrations, ink pen and pencil sketches, and colourful cartoon-like paintings. From the hug-me-now plush toys, to little stress toys, stickers, gift tags, caricatures, and even the prized ‘A piece’ (a simple puzzle piece priced at around R3000), you walk around the exhibition feeling delightfully light and happy. Not to mention that you’ll probably find a little free range friend that you can identify with completely, it’s your soul twin in a plush toy.
Graphic art and comic art are not commonplace at fest, but this exhibition has left me hoping that next year it will be- pretending to be deep and meaningful while looking at paint splats and dolls draped in animal hide has gotten a bit old for me.
This piece is from Cue Online, a project of Rhodes University’s New Media Lab.