cozins

I grew up in Apartheid South Africa and this has been the defining influence in my approach to life and art. The interests that drive my work are concerned with people and politics and existence in general. Until recently my work focused on the dark side of the human endeavour ... Apartheid, 9/11, the Island of Diego Garcia. But about a year ago I visited the exhibition by Swiss artists Peter Fischli and David Weiss. Their work about the world around them has a light touch full of humour. It was an uplifting experience. It inspired me. I had already been looking for a new approach to my work, something fresh. I began to think: “What do I like about the world?” I like being alive. I like the contrasts and contradictions found in the big as well as the small ... the energy and humour this can evoke. In fact I love these things. This seemed a good starting point, so I decided to make work about anything that takes my fancy under the umbrella of “Joie de Vivre.”