Vendor Biography
Rowan Phillips
Born and raised in Zimbabwe, I studied Fine Arts at UCT, majoring in etching, lithography and typography. My family and I moved to Durban 22 years ago and live in Pretoria. I am always drawing and have developed keen eye to record images and later translate onto paper. Line, texture, light and dark make up the graphic space I love (I am not a “colour” man) Over the years, I have been impacted by artists like Goya in his controversial etchings of dark subjects like the ‘Disasters of War’ series, the German expressionist Kathe Kollwitz in her linear and tonal explorations of social issue themes, and South African William Kentridge whose socio-political commentaries stated in stark black and white terms.
Since my move to Pretoria, I have seen the waste-pickers silently moving through streets on the way to sort through the city’s detritus or on the way back to shanty informal communities, pulling their trolleys with large canvas sacks packed with recyclables. These people are responsible for 80 to 90 % of SA’s recyclables and always have a ‘presence’ and a dignity despite being part of one of the country’s most marginalised communities. Also known as “surfers” – when they get to a good downhill run and their load is heavy, what better way to take a breather, jump on board their trolley and ride to the bottom of the run!
My technique is one of drawing the images I have seen, photographing my drawings and then working with my finger on the screen. I then print, draw into print, photograph again until I am happy with the result.
I have an urge to record, interpret, create images in black and white which hopefully will speak to people who have never met a waste-picker, or a street-person who takes on traffic-control duties when Eskom cuts the power to traffic lights, or the gogo who purveys a variety of ready-to-go eats on the pavement or the street performer entertaining motorists while they wait for a green light. My subject matter is all around me every day.