Meet the artists

Self-taught and self-inspired artist and illustrator Audrey Stohne immerses herself in stories, connections and nature. For her, the essence of being an artist means the creation of joy, identifying moments of escape and peace for her audience.

For this exhibition, Audrey was inspired by different artistic disciplines that illustrated the periods during the COVID-19 and its attendant lockdown. She took this concept and unbundled it into two distinct categories:

In the first, Audrey takes a tool, an environment or an element from the artist’s discipline and enlarges the components, bringing emphasis to their careers and the impending risk to their livelihoods brought about by the commencement of lockdown. Each artist is shown in miniature form as a symbol of their anxiety and the pervasive feelings of being overwhelmed. Their isolation and fear of an unknown future are depicted by their physical separation in the pieces.

The second approach was taken with a far lighter and more endearing note and was encapsulated by the label ‘People’. Different artists were shown in the homes, with their loved ones, but most especially, in the midst of their craft. The tone of this collection is one of optimism, resilience, and perseverance. Here, the expected challenges of an artist persist, but with the understanding that an impervious commitment to creativity will ultimately prevail.

As fire burns across the Earth, it brings renewal and rebirth. And new beginnings. Through the mutability of the elements – fire, wind, earth and ether – exists the endlessness of energy, the ephemeral essence of atmosphere. 

It is in this changeable space that Cindy finds her focus. In the transience of form, through the exploration of the process of metamorphosis inherent in nature, Cindy finds continuum and continuity in her creativity; rooting, reaching, following the light as her blooms do, but honouring the darkness that allows for recreation. 

Her ‘Future Nature’ landscapes and interventions at the IDC Exhibition evoke wonder and invite interaction, allowing the audience to engage while sustaining the bounty and beauty of the wild. 

Cindy Poole is a multi-hyphenate artist, having worked in film, art and design production before moving into the world of botanical interventions. Here she infuses ways to reconnect to nature, using her inspiration from its ability to create awe and wonder. Working with natural elements, such as clay and soil, to house her living and preserved plants, she challenges the notion of ‘feminine crafts’, those traditional disciplines of flower decoration, food preparation, garden-making and homemaking, specifically as they relate to sanctuary and ritual. Cindy studied Fine Arts for three years at UCT Michaelis before transferring to AFDA to complete her Honours in Drama.