The Futility of artistic confession

Dumas lives and works in the Netherlands, but was born and raised in South Africa in the days of apartheid. Her many-layered figurative pictures reflect political and personal experiences and are full of art-historical references. Dumas’ work is characterised by a sensual painting technique that only focuses on the most essential aspects. Her works touch on complex themes that range from segregation and eroticism to more general ones, such as love and war. Dumas often takes inspiration from photos in the newspapers and magazines she keeps in her enormous archive of images.

A girl’s head is painted on the two side panels of this triptych, based on a childhood photo of the artist herself. The head is raised piously and the palms of the hands are pressed together devoutly. The girl, who represents ‘the’ artist, is staring at the painting of the cross in devout worship. But the cross is merely the painted impression of the crossbars of the central panel; a camera snapshot.