 ROXANDRA DARDAGAN "It's an ill wind…." |
 ROXANDRA DARDAGAN "Rising waters, where to go?" |
 ROXANDRA DARDAGAN Pig (From set of 16 Political Animals) |
 ROXANDRA DARDAGAN Fence Sitter (From set of 16 Policial Animals) |
 ROXANDRA DARDAGAN Opportunist (From set of 16 Political Animals) |
 ROXANDRA DARDAGAN Untitled (Wild Boar) (From set of 16 Political Animals) |
 ROXANDRA DARDAGAN Goat (From set of 16 Political Animals) |
 ROXANDRA DARDAGAN Untitled (Hyena) (From set of 16 Political Animals) Sold |
 ROXANDRA DARDAGAN Wounded (From set of 16 Political Animals) |
 ROXANDRA DARDAGAN Fragment (Triptych) |
 ROXANDRA DARDAGAN Debris Sold |
Artist's statement
I am a printmaker and specialize in etching and four- plate colour etching. I was born in Zimbabwe and grew up in the small farming town of Banket, where my parents ran a large general store which served a flourishing farming community. In 1979, at the height of the bush war, when Rhodesia was on the brink of forming an interim government, they were killed in the Viscount Umniati which was shot down by Joshua Nkomo's Zipra faction. My work explores socio /political issues and themes which are largely auto-biographical. Like black and white photography, etching is used as social commentary, where incidents in Zimbabwe's history, such as the genocide in Matabeleland in the early 1980's and the land invasions of 2000, are recorded. While references are made to the Zimbabwean situation, the themes of violence, genocide, Diaspora and identity are universal.
The aftermath of the violent death of my parents is presented in the seminal work "Debris" where the subject of debris. In any disaster (whether it is man-made, natural or born out of violent acts) those affected by what has happened, are left to "sift" through the aftermath in order to make sense of what has happened. In the work "Debris", (a hand-coloured etching with over 600 small plates), figures "sift" through landscapes of debris. One may recall images of 911 or the Tsunami in 2004, in this instance it is a reference to my parent's plane crash, where I have been left to "sift" through and make sense of what has happened. It is universal in it's theme, in that we all have debris of some sort to deal with.
Biography
Born: Harare, Zimbabwe, 5 July 1962
Education
Higher Education Diploma, Rhodes University 1992, Master of Fine Arts (Graphics)
Rhodes University 1988, Bachelor of Fine Arts (Cum Laude Graphic Design)
Rhodes University 1984.
Exhibitions
2007 Work short listed for Spier Contemporary 2007
Solo Exhibition "Debris" Upstairs@Bamboo, Johannesburg
2006 Work selected for Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Museum Biennale, Port Elizabeth
2005 Solo Exhibition "Debris" National Arts Festival, Grahamstown
2004 Exhibition with Anne Collins Cuyler Street Gallery, Port Elizabeth
2003 "Console" Group Show, National Arts Festival - Grahamstown
2003 Strydom and Jordaan, George
2003 Print Exchange portfolio exhibition "Cross Cultural Identities" with University of Wisconsin
International Printmaking Conference Iziko National Museum Cape Town
2002 "Awakenings" National Arts Festival with André Roodt, Mythic Home, Port Elizabeth
Summer Exhibition, Strydom and Jordaan Gallery, George
EPSAC, Port Elizabeth - Best work on show
2001 "Egazini - Battle of Grahamstown" National Venues and Iceland
Cuyler Street Gallery, Port Elizabeth
"Egazini" Exhibition, National Arts Festival Grahamstown
Summer Exhibition, Strydom and Jordaan Gallery, George
1999 "Fishwives" National Arts Festival, Grahamstown
1998 Group Exhibition, Old Goal, Knysna
Exhibited with André Roodt and Diane Maclean, National Arts Festival, Grahamstown
East Cape Art Exhibition, Pretoria and Bloemfontein
Retrospective Rhodes Graphics Exhibition, Grahamstown
1996 Two man Exhibition with Vusi Khumalo, National Arts Festival Grahamstown, entitled "Two Worlds"
GAP, Exhibition, Port Elizabeth
Cuyler Street Gallery Exhibition, Port Elizabeth
1995 Caversham Press Graphics Exhibition entitled "Spirit of our Stories" Nationally and
Grahamstown Festival of the Arts.
Contributed work to an Exhibition of South African Art at the Chicago Museum
1993 Rhodes University Alumni Exhibition, National Arts Festival Grahamstown.
GAP Exhibition, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and National Arts Festival, Grahamstown
1992 GAP Exhibition
Johan Carinus Art Centre Staff Exhibition, National Arts Festival, Grahamstown
1991 Johan Carinus Art Centre Staff Exhibition, National Arts Festival, Grahamstown
1990/1 Strydom and Jordaan Gallery, George
1989 Eastern Cape Profile Exhibition, National Arts Festival, Grahamstown
Graphic Art Exhibition, Gallery Delta, Harare.
1988 Contemporary Zimbabwean Art, Gallery Delta
1987 Master of Fine Art Exhibition, Rhodes Art School, Grahamstown
Volkskas National Exhibition
1984 Rolfes for student Art -work highly commended
1981/88 Exhibited locally and nationally with Rhodes Art School.
Commissions and Awards
KPMG Art Collection Johannesburg.
Kimberly Museum Permanent Collection
Attorney General's Office, Johannesburg
Mural Commission, Rhodes University, Grahamstown
MTN Print Collection
Rhodes University Collection
André Brink Collection
Best work on show EPSAC (Eastern Cape Fine Art Society, Port Elizabeth
2002 Work highly commended and purchased by Rolfes
1984 Purvis Art prize, Rhodes University 1984