Barnard Gallery Hosts Tracy Payne's Latest Exhibition of Paintings

MEDIA UPDATE

SOUTH AFRICA---The Barnard Gallery is to present Fumbling Towards Ecstasy – an exhibition of paintings by Tracy Payne. Taken from the haunting song by Sarah McLachlan, the title provides a poignant hint of Payne’s relentless odyssey in search of self-actualisation. It is about leaving and grieving, loss and reclamation. It is a quest that is skinless, profound and in parts, viscerally painful, but articulated with grace, sensuality and beauty. For example, in her Snake Dancer series, The serpent is, of course, one of the oldest and most powerful archetypal symbols in history. As both demon and deity, it is associated with duality, in all the major religions. Through its ability to shed its old skin the snake also symbolises rebirth or renewal. And this is the recurring refrain not only throughout Payne’s exhibition but also in the show’s centrepiece – a monumental painting of the Hindu God Shiva and Parvati in a carnal embrace. [link]