Teetering on a three-storey-high scaffolding for a week was the ultimate “high” for Sunrise-on-Sea artist Jeff Rankin who has installed a striking, 50m-long woodcut at a new resource centre in Lusikisiki.
Rankin, 64, created the massive artwork, which spans the periphery of the upper reaches of the new centre’s central atrium at the new addition to St Elizabeth’s Hospital.
“I was initially asked to complete it in two months, but that was impossible, so it was extended to four months and I finished installing it mid-March,” said the former political cartoonist, illustrator and designer, who was commissioned by Port Shepstone architects Renee van Rensburg and Gerhard du Toit.
Despite the extended deadline, the sheer scale of the work meant 15-hour work days in his seaside studio to create the woodcuts which Rankin based on the meaning of the word Lusikisiki.
“I was told the name comes from the rustling sounds of the leaves commonly growing in the area, so reeds were a repetitive connector in the work.”
The artist also drew inspiration from the function of a resource centre which was built by the Eastern Cape departments of health and public works and which includes a theatre, library and conference centre.
“I based the seven main images on traditional resources like a woman carrying firewood, cattle grazing on a hillside, a man on horseback and a hen pecking on the ground. I hope people will identify with them.”
The mammoth artwork was comprised of 29 supawood panels into which he carved designs before applying earthy acrylic colours into the recesses.
“It is very physical work and so my arms were cramping and my fingers were locking up, but my body is used to it.”
What Rankin was less used to was spending a week atop a lofty 10m-high scaffolding to screw the panels into place.
“The scaffold rocked a bit and was certainly a little unnerving,” said the artist, who along with his two helpers, at times channelled Michelangelo and his Sistine Chapel creation when working upside down to position the metre-high panels.
“Panels had to join as seamlessly as possible, so there was quite a bit of cursing and tweaking on site to get this to happen.”
Rankin described the remarkable commission as a “a real gift”.
“A public commission is something artists are drawn to because they are accessible to the public and perform a good social function. They are not a privately owned thing.” — barbarah@dispatch.co.za
Soaring artwork installed
Rankin, 64, created the massive artwork, which spans the periphery of the upper reaches of the new centre’s central atrium at the new addition to St Elizabeth’s Hospital.
“I was initially asked to complete it in two months, but that was impossible, so it was extended to four months and I finished installing it mid-March,” said the former political cartoonist, illustrator and designer, who was commissioned by Port Shepstone architects Renee van Rensburg and Gerhard du Toit.
Despite the extended deadline, the sheer scale of the work meant 15-hour work days in his seaside studio to create the woodcuts which Rankin based on the meaning of the word Lusikisiki.
“I was told the name comes from the rustling sounds of the leaves commonly growing in the area, so reeds were a repetitive connector in the work.”
The artist also drew inspiration from the function of a resource centre which was built by the Eastern Cape departments of health and public works and which includes a theatre, library and conference centre.
“I based the seven main images on traditional resources like a woman carrying firewood, cattle grazing on a hillside, a man on horseback and a hen pecking on the ground. I hope people will identify with them.”
The mammoth artwork was comprised of 29 supawood panels into which he carved designs before applying earthy acrylic colours into the recesses.
“It is very physical work and so my arms were cramping and my fingers were locking up, but my body is used to it.”
What Rankin was less used to was spending a week atop a lofty 10m-high scaffolding to screw the panels into place.
“The scaffold rocked a bit and was certainly a little unnerving,” said the artist, who along with his two helpers, at times channelled Michelangelo and his Sistine Chapel creation when working upside down to position the metre-high panels.
“Panels had to join as seamlessly as possible, so there was quite a bit of cursing and tweaking on site to get this to happen.”
Rankin described the remarkable commission as a “a real gift”.
“A public commission is something artists are drawn to because they are accessible to the public and perform a good social function. They are not a privately owned thing.” — barbarah@dispatch.co.za
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