John Kotze first used collage as a basis for his painting in 2002. This developed into his fascination with realism and became the predominant influence over his practice in the subsequent years. During the forced isolation of COVID Kotze returned to exploring this principal medium as a response to the collected material at his disposal. The resulting imagery of faces and figures in various guises reflects all of our new uncertainties. While maintaining the realism, the change in direction of his work echoes the desire of our collective reimagining. There is an ode to Pop Art’s celebration of the ordinary, the banal and even the kitsch, rejecting the idealism of pure figuration and supporting the notion that beauty can be found in our everyday reality.
Observing these works, one can view the portrait as a whole or focus on the separate elements of the work. These opposing viewpoints project a juxtaposition of feelings. The mind absorbs one view or the other and alternates between them. Between the illusionistic, real elements and the imaginary or hallucinatory whole, never quite settling on either. The collages inherently allow for contradicting perspectives and emotions.