Growing up on small holdings on the outskirts of Johannesburg and accompanying her archaeologist father on excavations in the veld, the artist Tamar Mason has held a life-long interest in the history and landscapes of southern Africa. The new, embroidered works in Seeing Shadows — her first solo exhibition — explore the complexity of rural life in South Africa, intertwining human and environmental concerns.
Focused primarily on Mpumalanga (her home province), Mason’s works consider the impact of failing government services on local communities and the natural environment. They address enduring legacies of exploitation, championing the resilience, strength and diversity of those living in areas that are disproportionately affected by political corruption and ecological crisis. Memorialising tensions of past and present, Mason hand-stitches and beads narrative objects onto thick black fabric more commonly used in the production of men’s suits, often placing loaded motifs against topographical arrangements. By working in a medium traditionally associated with women’s work, ornament and domesticity, Mason crafts empowering and subversive narratives that raise awareness of patriarchal systems of governance.
Seeing Shadows is on show at the Pippy Houldsworth Gallery in London until 11 January 2025.
Q > Tell us a bit about the things, places and people who inspire your work.
A > Decades of working with rural women and southern Africa’s landscapes, especially the Mpumalanga escarpment nourished me. Chance observations on street corners, finding archaeological and rock art sites, our often bizarrely written local newspaper and the general chaos of living in South Africa keep me engaged. So many people have influenced my work, at the moment I am in love with Firelei Báez and Jennifer Packer’s work.
Q > In what period/location have you learned the most?
A > I have lived in the Lowveld the longest and learnt the most here. Learning, like the universe, is continually expanding. Living in the Lowveld means that I get to pay attention each day to the incredible natural environment that we are surrounded by. By looking closely I interpret and understand the world through small signifiers such as insects, plants and chance objects. And then I read the news and try to make sense of it all through imagery. I am also drawn to maps as a way to understand the world.
Q > What specific event or personal experience most inspired ‘Seeing Shadows’?
A > One afternoon, I was walking in the Sefogwane River valley and I noticed my shadow walking alongside me, passing over rocks, grassland and glistening streams. As I walked, I connected my shadow with the women whose shadows have also fallen on the same veld over the centuries.
Q > Which piece in the show holds the most significance for you, and why?
A > I spend months working on each piece — so each of them is equally significant to me. Each one is an extended meditation on social and environmental issues. I am addicted to stitching.
Q > Describe your creative process.
A > Walking in the veld and going down historical and environmental/climate crises rabbit holes are the starting point. From there, I gather images in my head and then transfer them onto paper and later fabric. First I stitch the outlines and then I “paint” with the thread. I follow where my eyes and hand take me.
Q > Which part of it is the most satisfying (and why)?
A > When I have just started a piece and I think I know exactly what to do I start to stitch and I lose track of time. And then at the end, when the fabric is dense with stitches and beads it has a satisfying, velvety weight to it.
Q > What is something that might surprise us about your creative process?
A > A lot of my ideas come to me while I’m walking in the veld, driving to the grocery store or trying to fall asleep at 2.30 am. These are the exact moments when I am least thinking about my work.
Q > What were your go-to tools for the creation of the works in Seeing Shadows?
A > My phone camera, a size 22 chenille needle, a light yellow pencil and hiking boots.
Q > What is something you cannot work without?
A > Good natural light, suiting fabric, plus bits of whole cinnamon to chew on and the view from my stoep.
Q > What impact or reactions do you expect your work to provoke on your viewers?
A > Hopefully delight, curiosity and a deeper historical and environmental understanding of often out-of-sight rural areas.
Q > What is something that you hope stays with those who view your work?
A > A sense of calm and a questioning of the status quo.
Tamar Mason at Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, London (2024). Courtesy the artist and Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, London. Photography by: Ted Fetherstonhaugh
Q > What is a lesson you would share with someone early in their artistic career?
A > It took me 35 years to get my first solo exhibition. Don’t give up. Ever.
Q > What do you like and dislike about the art world?
A > I love the people, the art world is as close as I get to being part of a shared community. What I cannot deal with is the pretentiousness and the word “practice”, actually anything artspeak.
Q > What is something that few people know about you?
A > Instead of studying hard in my final year of high school, I spent most of my time growing my first vegetable garden in Broederstroom.
Q > What rule do you break the most?
A > My inner headmistress makes me incredibly nervous about breaking any rules — except when it comes to embroidery. I don’t follow conventional embroidery techniques of using special tiny, tight stitches, tying knots and working with an embroidery hoop. I work loosely, use very basic stitches and leave the threads untied at the back of my panels.
Q > What do you plan on working on next?
A > I have become fixated on the shadows made by indigenous plants and stitching geological formations. I am starting a new panel about the women who have mined hematite and ochre for thousands of years in the Lowveld.
Q > Tell us about something cultural you’ve enjoyed lately?
A > I am obsessed with the Empire podcast. William Dalrymple and Anita Anand have opened up the history of the world to me beyond the European/American focus that was my education. Jonny Steinberg’s Winnie and Nelson was a good lesson in shattering icons.
