THE FIFTH SEASON

Lisa Voigts – The Fifth Season Text: Marita van Rooyen “The Fifth Season”, is a concept explained by artist Lisa Voigts as signifying the creation of your own season. “Like the rainy season… because it didn’t rain for eight years on our farm, we had some really crazy challenges to cope with and I started to control my thoughts to stay on the ground. This exhibition is a collection of images created in my head – my thoughts – over the past two years.” Voigts was born and bred in Bavaria, southern Germany, and obtained her degree in Graphic Design from an institution at the Lake of Constance in Friedrichshafen, but despite her German roots, has a strong connection to Namibia through her family farm, where she has an art studio and spends much of her creative time. Her latest exhibition depict works that combine various artistic mediums to visually embody Voigts’ thoughts on the drought and life in Namibia – predominantly acrylic paint given life and lustre through beads, pencil, charcoal, pastel or collage. A selection of images holds an obvious relation to life on the farm and tells the story of animal survival and behaviour during the dry years. ‘Waterbuck’, “come and visit us in our yard on the green grass in front of our bedroom, since there is nothing else left to eat”, while ‘The Last Meerkat’ personifies the “only one that survived on our farm”. Prints, made from pencil drawings, photographic images and illustrations, direct the mind to more serious topics such as the prevalence of ‘African Beauty’, tending to others and environmental protection, while other pieces are more light-hearted and personifies a play on the German words for certain creatures, like ‘Spitzenschwein’ and ‘Schmetterlink’. In addition to her personal projects and exhibitions, the artist has her own enterprise, “Graphic Arts”, which is aimed at helping companies be more successful in communicating to customers, in a creative manner. She has worked with clients from Namibia, South Africa and Germany, most recently for fashion company Marc Cain’s Spring/Summer Collection. The entire collection, which includes  “African Shadows”, “Go Wild”, “Flower Shower”, “Ocean Splash”, “Jungle Pioneers” and “Summer Flash” , is based on Namibian inspiration, and much of it was created in the country. As is Voigts’ inspiration for creativity, "eye-catching designs that make you think and stays in your head, and if it makes people smile, you’ve won", her work remains colourful and uplifting, despite the questioning nature that lies beneath the surface. During a review of one of her previous exhibitions (“Beautiful Mind” at Pure & Simple in Windhoek, 2013), her work was described as drawing in both the mind and the eye…with quirky fonts and sometimes cryptic associations. Sticking to her signature style, “The Fifth Season” is another clever combination of thought and creativity. It and can be viewed at The Project Room from 28th of February till 14th of March 2020.