Karin Daymond

Karin Daymond lives in a part of South Africa that has some of the most staggering landscapes in the country. Nelspruit which has been home for Karin Daymond since 1992, is the capital of the Mpumalanga province. It is mountainous country wedged snugly into a corner bordering Mozambique, Swaziland and the pristine Kruger National Park. The vegetation is sub-tropical and huge whale back granite formations surge out of the fertile orange, litchi and nut orchards that surround Nelspruit. Karin Daymond has chosen to live almost within her paintings. The connection with her life's outlook, where she lives and what she depicts are tightly bound.

Landscape painting has a long history in South Africa. White European explorers chartered their way across the sub-continent recording the flora, fauna and land that they moved through. Much of this documentation was in the name of science and natural history. As these explorers tended to reflect the needs of the empire builders who funded their trips it also reflected the politics of the day. Depicting the landscape was often a way to expropriate and therefore control it This tradition continued into the twentieth century with the work of John Koenakeefe Mohl, J H Pierneef, the Everard Group and George Pemba. What is interesting to note is when human figures or signs of human development are included or not. Some of these early landscapes reflected an idealized view of Africa, an Eden devoid of people and often teeming with beautiful strange animals.

Karin Daymonds landscapes are also devoid of human figures. But her motivation for this lack of human activity is not motivated by a political agenda. Daymond says" Life in South Africa is always controversial, ironic, violent, absurd and tragic. Debates rage and yet the land is always there, regardless of to whom it belongs. Natural elements reassert themselves, through the seasons, patterns and contrasts". When humans have annihilated themselves the earth will endure and remain.

Karin Daymond has a strong connection with the land and is attracted to the sense of aloneness that one has within a landscape even though the "ghosts" of previous land use emerge, whether these are old fields and orchards or the remains of earlier stone age and iron age settlements. They are like stretch marks on the land and put the individual and time into perspective. Landscapes are a way for Daymond to explore her Africaness. Patterns, rhythms and colour help her to make sense of her world. Daymond says that she enjoys the process of finding a sense of order in what might initially seem like chaotic nature and then distilling this into a painting. Daymond says: 'I paint to make sense of my surroundings, nature and the landscape are an integral part of who I am.".Landscapes are a way for Daymond to lose herself and merge with the landscape in a way that becomes meditative when expressed in her paintings.

Artist's statement:

The unusual arrangement of rocks on the land is often the only visible sign that people were living there. In each of these prints the arrangement of the rocks is different suggesting different ways in which the land was used. The environment is starting to reassert itself with grass obscuring the rock and rocks starting to topple from the pyramid.

In “Scatter” I wanted to create a secretive feeling, as if the viewer has stumbled upon something that has been lying quietly in the grass for a long time. The hint of birds being flushed out of the grass and forming random scattered marks in the sky adds to this. The stone circle appears repeatedly in our South African landscape and appeals to me because it seems so fundamental in all forms of shelters and enclosures. In this image the stones have shifted slightly, but one can still piece together the circle as it was. There is light in the centre of the circle because this was a meaningful space to which people were drawn. Stormy weather is whipping up the grass and bringing dark clouds, but the stones are constant.

“Past Our Peak” is a pyramid of rocks that refers to the cairns that are all over South Africa. Most passers-by have added to the pile, and this particular pile has grown so top- heavy that it is now beginning to crumble. This is an analogy to our modern society that is so top heavy and has so many imbalances, that it is threatening to become unsustainable. The fires are necessary and suggest change and the end of a process.

“The Brave Tree” stands alone in the stormy weather. The arrangement of the stones is random and confusing. I wanted to get the feeling that people have moved through this environment, leaving criss-crossed paths. This environment is in a process of transition, the light and shadows moving across the land, and the counterfoil for that state of change is the single, upright tree.
Karin Daymond, 2010


Karin Daymond Monoprints

New Editions from The Artists' Press

Artists at The Artists' Press A to L (by surname)

Artists at The Artists' Press M to X (by surname)


Karin Daymond paintings